Chicago Bears quarterback Josh McCown has hinted that he will stay with the team next season even if he is offered a starting job elsewhere.

McCown will become a free agent during the off-season and, although the Bears can exclusively negotiate with the veteran until then, they can't officially re-sign him until the start of free agency.

The 34-year-old featured fairly regularly for the Bears last season due to injuries to Jay Cutler and, while he knows he would not be first choice in Chicago, he insisted that he wouldn't go to a team simply for a starting role.

"I think from both sides, when I left and was exiting and doing all those things, I think it was mutual that both [parties] want to keep working together. I think we understand what we are coming from there," McCown told ESPN.

"It's just the things that I have to weigh and think about. If an opportunity does come along to start, where is that team? What kind of team is that? It's hard to leave a team, especially as a quarterback, in an offensive structure that we have and are building with the pieces that we have.

"So it's not so cut and dry that this team will give you an opportunity to be a starter so let's go there. I think it's weighing what all is there and what that opportunity entails. It's going to have to look really good for me to go someplace else because my heart is in Chicago and that is where I want to be."

McCown impressed during his playing time last season, recording 1,829 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and one interception for a passer rating of 109.0.