Buccaneers release McCown

We all knew it was coming, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made their intentions for the top pick in the NFL Draft crystal clear by releasing veteran quarterback Josh McCown on Wednesday.

McCown signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the team last year after arriving from Chicago as a free agent. He was always going to be a placeholder quarterback, but after throwing 14 interceptions against 11 touchdown and a 70.5 passer rating, it seems that place will be taken by either Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston.

The Bucs were 1-10 in McCown’s 11 starts.

Mike Glennon, who served as McCown’s backup and made five starts when McCown was injured, will seemingly stay in that role for whichever rookie quarterback the Buccaneers decide to take.

There also figures to be a market for McCown in an extremely weak class of free-agent quarterbacks. No teams have been tied to him yet, but one can’t rule out the possibility of a return to Chicago to back up Jay Cutler, or a reunion with new Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman to serve as Joe Flacco’s backup.

A truly desperate team like the Browns might also turn to McCown as the kind of veteran presence who could straighten up Johnny Manziel. After all, who better to connect with him than a fellow Texan? McCown’s hometown of Jacksonville, Texas is only 30 miles away from Manziel’s birthplace in Tyler.

Browns owner admits to Farmer’s illegal texting

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has offered his full support to general manager Ray Farmer even though Farmer has admitted to illegally sending text messages to members of Cleveland’s coaching staff during games.

Haslam had a meeting with reporters who cover the team on Wednesday, covering a range of topics that mostly focused on Cleveland’s offseason woes.

“I think Ray Farmer knows and has (told me) that he has made a mistake in sending those texts,” Haslam told reporters. “Ray feels terrible about it. Ray’s a guy — I’ve known a lot of people — I think has utmost integrity.

“I’ll just say that I don’t think Ray intended to gain any unfair advantage and he’s learned from his mistakes.”

The league has not announced what the penalty will be for breaking the league rule about electronic communication during games, but Haslam will not fire Farmer regardless of how that turns out.

“I think you have to look at an individual’s body of work. We’re comfortable with Ray’s body of work, very comfortable.

“Ray’s smart. He works hard. I think he understands football. He’s been in football all his life. He relates extremely well to players. He knows it not only from a personnel standpoint but from the way a game should be run and managed standpoint.

“I think he’s an exceptional human being. I hate this. As bad as I hate it for the organization, I hate it more for Ray Farmer. I think it eats him up every day.”

Redskins safety Ryan Clark announces retirement

Safety Ryan Clark is calling it quits after 13 seasons in the NFL. Clark spent his last season with Washington after being one of the mainstays of the Steelers’ secondary the previous eight.

These days it’s just about impossible to play defensive back at LSU and not get drafted, but Clark was an undrafted free agent when he left Baton Rouge in 2002 and ended up signing with the Giants. He played two seasons in New York and two with Washington before hitting his stride in Pittsburgh, where he helped the Steelers to a pair of Super Bowl rings playing alongside Troy Polamalu.

Clark’s unusual medical condition also helped create the defining moment for an American fad – Tebowmania. Clark carries a rare sickle-cell trait that made playing in Denver’s mile-high atmosphere a danger to his life – he lost 40 pounds and had his spleen and gallbladder removed following a 2007 game in Denver.

As a result, Clark was held out of the game when Pittsburgh visited Denver in the 2011 AFC Wild Card round. Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards on just 10 completions, including the 80-yard touchdown strike to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, that cemented one of the most unlikely playoff results of all-time.

Clark was a shadow of his former self during his encore year in DC, leading Washington’s secondary with 22 missed tackles. It’s speculated that the engaging Clark’s future will be in television.