Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints are discussing a deal, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter Sunday.
According to Yahoo Sports, a one-year contract is close to being finalized.
Winston was displaced in Tampa Bay when the Buccaneers signed Tom Brady.
By doing a one-year deal with the Saints, Winston would get to learn from coach Sean Payton, quarterback Drew Brees and others. He would fill the role that Teddy Bridgewater did for the team last season before he left for Carolina. With no other staring jobs available, it could be an ideal landing spot.
Winston would compete for the No. 2 job with with Taysom Hill, who was retained this offseason with a first-round tender. Some see Hill as the heir apparent to Brees, and though he has been a standout in a multi-purpose role, he isn’t yet an established NFL quarterback.
In his first season with coach Bruce Arians, Winston had 5,109 passing yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he also had a career-high 30 interceptions as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season.
Turnovers have and will remain Winston’s biggest issue as a pro, and opponents scored 112 points off his turnovers last season — the most in the NFL. Overall, he’s lost 111 turnovers in his career, the most of any player in the league since 2015. His 19,737 passing yards since 2015, however, are the seventh most of any quarterback in the league.
After the season, Winston made steps to correct his nearsightedness, undergoing LASIK surgery.
The Bucs could have reached a deal with Winston at any point after the season, but Arians was adamant about seeing “what’s behind Door No. 2” when it came to which free agents would be available.
Winston, who turned 26 in January, has gone 28-42 in his five seasons as a starter with the Bucs, completing 61.3% of his passes with 121 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. He has developed a strong chemistry with Pro Bowl receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Arians was happy with Winston’s progression on the deep ball, as the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner completed 40.2% of his passes of 20 or more air yards in 2019, which was helped by his chemistry with receiver Breshad Perriman. Before last season, he had completed just 30.5% of such passes since being selected with the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015.
Winston was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season after an eight-month NFL investigation concluded that he engaged in detrimental conduct in March 2016 by touching a female Uber driver “in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent and that disciplinary action was necessary and appropriate.” A settlement was reached in a separate lawsuit.
Information from ESPN’s Jenna Laine was used in this report.