Getty Images

Josh McCown said near the end of the regular season that he’d like to play another season in the NFL, but it won’t be with the Browns after they released him this week.

While McCown’s time with the Browns has been marked with injuries and losing, he said that he’s “sad about leaving just because once you’re there and you’re part of the community you want to see that team succeed.” That success probably won’t come until the Browns find themselves a franchise quarterback and McCown knows that releasing him gives them a spot to use in that pursuit.

“You need to take as many stabs at this as you can,” McCown said, via Cleveland.com. “That’s why I wasn’t as bummed out as I could’ve been when they released me. They need the roster spots to get this right and they’re committed to it.”

If they fill the spot with a trade for Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, McCown would be a fan. He said he believes Garoppolo can “carry a franchise” and has “some traits in the same mold” as Aaron Rodgers that have been boosted by years of playing with Tom Brady. He didn’t go so far as to say that the Browns should give up the first overall pick, but he definitely put himself in the Garoppolo camp on his way out of Cleveland.