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Josh McCown has signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and while we all expected him to get a chance to compete with Mike Glennon for the starting job, that apparently won't be the case.

According to Tampa Bay Times staffer Greg Auman, head coach Lovie Smith has already confirmed that McCown is his starter. In fact, asked specifically if McCown is his quarterback, Smith said: "Yes, he is."

There you have it.

"I've known him for a while, got a chance to see him in every situation, as a leader, a guy coming back from adversity," Smith went on to say of McCown. "When you have a little time to reflect on a lot of things, and say 'Hey, this next chance, I want to do it right in every way.' I wanted to have people that I really knew how they would react in every situation. Josh is just a heck of a guy."

Smith has had praise for Glennon, who had 19 touchdown passes as a rookie last fall, but the coach made it clear McCown is better suited to be the starter.

"He's a coach on the field. He's accurate. Great decision-maker: Do I throw it deep, check down, take off and run?" Smith said. "You want a quarterback who can throw the ball and one that makes good decisions, and he can do that. ... You have to be the guy that knows how to get everybody going in the right direction. That's what he's done. It's a new year. We have a long way to go, but we'll start it together."

McCown, 34, played a significant role for the Bears as they implementing a new offense under coach Marc Trestman and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, and he has been described by Bears general manager Phil Emery as a "glue guy" in the locker room.

He played in a total of eight games, with three wins in five starts filling in for injured starter Jay Cutler, with his B performances stirring debate about whether he should become the starter on a full-time basis.

McCown set a team record with 36 completions in a Nov. 24 loss to the St. Louis Rams, was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 15, and ranked third in the league with a passer rating of 109.0.

And now he'll get a chance to do more of the same in Tampa Bay.