Say what you want about Browns quarterback Josh McCown.
 
And I have certainly done just that this season. In fact, no one has been harder on him than I have.
 
But it was all centered on his ability – or lack thereof – to win games. He was just good enough to get a team close to victory, but not actually getting it.
 
And that doesn’t work in the win-immediately-or-I’ll-find-someone-who-will NFL.
 
But now McCown is in a great place, somewhere he can really, truly help the Browns in an incredibly significant way. With Johnny Manziel being named the starter for these final six games – as long as he stays in one piece, that is – McCown will do exactly what he is best-suited to do at this point of his career. And that is to serve as Manziel’s mentor, his teacher, his personal coach.
 
In that role, McCown will be as good as Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Brian Sipe and Bernie Kosar – all rolled into one.
 
He will do a super job. Count on it. Book it. Write it down.
 
First of all, McCown wants to do it. He has said from the start that he would be happy someday to show Manziel the ropes.
 
And he knows those ropes. He is 36 years old and in his 13th NFL season, so he has seen a lot – the good, the bad and the ugly. He knows what works, and what doesn’t, both on and off the field. We all are well aware that Manziel needs as much tutelage off the field as he does on it.
 
McCown is a great person, a great teammate and a great leader. He can be that role model. Did you see him on the sideline Sunday in Pittsburgh cheering Manziel on, talking to him as soon as he came off the field, sitting with him as he studied photos of the Steelers’ defensive alignments?
 
That type of stuff is invaluable. It will give Manziel a much better chance to succeed if he listens to McCown and follows his advice. Who knows if Manziel will actually take that advice – he’s about as tame as a wild stallion at times – but it’s there if he wants it. And he had better want for it, for his career will likely depend on it to a great deal.
 
Gary Danielson was a great mentor and confidante to Bernie Kosar 30 years ago.
 
If McCown can get that kind of relationship going with, and have that type of impact on, Manziel, then the Browns will know, one way or another, by the end of the season if Manziel can be their guy.
 
So, perhaps McCown was a great free-agent signing after all.