The Green Bay Packers Tuesday agreed to terms with free agent quarterback Tim Couch, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced.
"I am pleased to announce that Tim Couch has agreed to terms with the Green Bay Packers," Sherman said. "I am anxious to start the process of teaching him the offense and getting him ready for training camp and the season. Tim adds talent and experience to the quarterback position.
"Doug Pederson has had two excellent mini-camps, and Craig Nall continues to develop. Scott McBrien is still a question mark because we still haven't seen much of him yet, but he does show talent. The preseason will be the real test. At this present time, we will carry five quarterbacks until the position sorts itself out."
The first overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, Couch would become the fourth player drafted first overall to play for the Packers. He would join QB Bobby Garrett (played for Packers in 1954, drafted by Cleveland in 1954), HB Paul Hornung (1957-62, 1964-66, drafted by Green Bay in 1957) and DT Russell Maryland (2000, drafted by Dallas in 1991).
Couch, 26, has played 62 NFL games with 59 starts, all with the Cleveland Browns. In 2003, he appeared in 10 games, with eight starts, completing 120 of 203 passes (59.1 percent) for 1,319 yards with seven TDs and six interceptions. Dubbed the franchise quarterback for an expansion team, he made his first career start in Cleveland's second game since its return, Sept. 19, 1999.
A 6-foot-4, 225-pound veteran out of Kentucky, Couch shattered every UK passing record, despite only 24 starts. An All-American and unanimous first-team All-SEC in 1998, his final (junior) year, he led the nation in completions and finished second in completion percentage, yards and TD passes.
Born July 31, 1977, in Hyden, Ky., Couch won the Associated Press Kentucky High School Male Athlete of the Year honors after both his junior and senior years at Leslie County High School in Hyden, Ky. Couch joined Leslie County's varsity basketball team as a seventh grader, and led the state in scoring (36.0 points per game) his junior season. He was the country's No. 1 quarterback prospect during the 1995-96 recruiting season. During his time with the Browns, he worked with abused and neglected children in Cleveland.
