Josh McCown talked with the media the other day about his future with the Browns – or lack thereof.

He knows full well that he may – or may not – be with the Browns during the 2016 season.

If push comes to shove and I have to make a choice, I’m choosing no, that the quarterback will be somewhere, anywhere but Cleveland. He has a much better chance of being nowhere – retired, that is – than with the Browns.

And perhaps a McCown-less Browns team is best for everyone involved.

McCown has put up some big numbers in his long career, such as in 2015 during his first and probably only season with the Browns, but he has proven without a shadow of a doubt that he is not a winner. Far from it, in fact. His teams almost always don’t win. And winning games – not throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns – is what matters.

With the addition of free agent Robert Griffin III, and the strong possibility that they are likely to use their No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to get the man they deem to be their franchise quarterback, there just may not be room for McCown. He was brought in during the 2015 offseason to be the bridge to the future, which, at that time, at least in the eyes of former General Manager Ray Farmer, was Johnny Manziel. But Manziel’s star has since crashed and burned, and he is no longer with the team. His spot will be replaced by that first-round draft pick. And McCown’s spot may have already been taken by RGIII, who could – emphasize “could” – end up being a lot longer bridge.

That’s the hard reality of McCown’s value to the Browns on the field.

But as we’ve said before here – and will keep saying, because it’s true – what McCown can add to the Browns, or any other team, by far outdistances anything he can add, or not, on the field.

McCown is a great locker-room guy. He has been that throughout his career, and was again during last season with the Browns. Even though it was a miserable season and he missed a good portion of it, including the end, with injuries, he still helped tremendously behind the scenes.

And if McCown somehow is with the Browns this year, he will be an MVP once more in that regard. He said that – explicitly – in his recent interview, putting what’s best for the team ahead of what’s best for him personally. If there is a trait about him that could save him a spot on the Browns, it is that. Young teams trying to find their way need guys like McCown, and Hue Jackson fully understands that. He fully understands the value of having older players tutor younger ones, especially at quarterback, the position that is the head coach’s specialty.

We’ll just have to wait and see what occurs, although, again, there doesn’t seem to be much of a chance for McCown to last even through the next couple of weeks. With the draft now less than a month away, he could well be traded before that for a pick.

And when or if that happens, or however his seemingly inevitable departure plays out, McCown should be remembered not for his losses as a starting quarterback as much as for his being a really good guy, one of the best, in fact, in the history of the expansion-era Browns.

As Jackson builds the Browns, fans should hope the coach finds talented players with selfless all-in, team-first personalities like that of Josh McCown. And if that happens, then this rebuilding project will actually work.

Really.