Cleveland Browns: In honor of Josh McCown's retirement

Josh McCown only spent two seasons with the Cleveland Browns, but his lack of a presence was a big part of the story in the 2017 season, which saw the Browns go 0-16. In honor of his retirement and transition to television.

Remember that time the Cleveland Browns drafted DeShone Kizer in the second round and instead of letting Josh McCown stick around to be a bridge and help with Kizer's develoment, Hue Jackson told him that he thought he'd be a good coach but was cooked as a player?

McCown then went to the Jets and completed 67.3% of his passes for 2,953 yards and 18 touchdowns against 9 interceptions. Hue Jackson also decided to cut Robert Griffin III and Brock Osweiler so he could intentionally go into the 2017 season with a depth chart of DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan.

Despite objections from quarterbacks coach David Lee and the front office led by Sashi Brown, Hue Jackson managed to convince himself not only that he could basically will Kizer into becoming a franchise quarterback, but decided he had no use for any veterans helping his young quarterbacks along the way and thought he could fulfill that role too.

Delusions of grandeur gave way to reality almost immediately as Kizer's best game was his first one and he went downhill from there. After proclaiming Kizer a franchise quarterback, it took a few short weeks before Hue blamed Kizer for everything, chewed up and spit out  both Kessler and Hogan, then had the media send out reports about how he wanted every OTHER quarterback drafted that year..

The three best seasons McCown had in the NFL were the second half of 2014 with the Chicago Bears, 2015 when he played for the Browns in John DeFilippo's offense and then 2017, the year he didn't play for the Browns because Hue Jackson thought he should be a coach.

As bad as it was and it was worse than this even makes it sound, having gone 0-16, this proverbial walk through the desert was worth it to get to Baker Mayfield. Nevertheless, the Browns had a tremendous professional and someone who truly valued his role as a mentor to young quarterbacks in Josh McCown. And in honor of his retirement, this is to wish him all the best as he transitions from the playing field to television.