Jameis, your move!

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Sometimes, the best moves you make are the ones you don’t make.

Bruce Arians has made it clear, Jameis Winston is his quarterback. There was a time last season when it wasn’t clear the former #1 pick was anybody’s quarterback. Decisions off the field and on it, have made Winston as popular as a SunPass bill.

Yet, Arians has said a major reason he took the Buccaneers job was because of Winston. That helps because the Glazers have said the major reason they hired him is because of Winston.

By the Numbers

Arians has tutored many of the best quarterbacks on the planet. Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Andrew Luck all got their start under the now Buccaneers head coach. Arians actually took the Cardinals to the playoffs twice with quarterbacks Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton, and Ryan Lindley. In fact, look at Palmer’s stats during his four years with Arians and see that Palmer threw for 96 touchdowns and 50 interceptions.

Winston’s numbers in four years – 88 touchdown passes and 58 interceptions.

Arians knows what he has and what he’s facing.

And from raw numbers, Manning threw 23 more interceptions than Winston as this point in his career. Tom Brady had 52 interceptions in his first four seasons. Roethlisberger’s stats after four years are very Winston-like with 84 touchdowns and 54 picks.

Bottom line, Winston is not that far off.

Bucs fans are fed up with his garbage off the field. Twice he has settled out of court on lawsuits involving women. The last incident led to the three-game suspension to start last season, and when the Uber driver detailed Winston groping her, Winston denied it.  Winston pointed to how much he had changed over the last 2 ½ years.

Yet when the Bucs asked Winston about the latest situation back in 2017, he was less than truthful. Is that maturing?

Winston’s Move

So, it all comes down to this season. If Winston has the type of campaign Arians believes he can pull out of him, Winston is staring at a new deal approaching $30 million a season.  If not, Winston will be staring at backup opportunities elsewhere.

The next move is up to him.

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