Now that the ink dried and Tom Brady is officially a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, let’s go over a highly improbable, but possible scenario. Could the supplanted quarterback in Jameis Winston come back in a backup capacity? For the interest of semantics, I say there’s a 90-95 percent chance Winston doesn’t come back because of pride. Let’s gauge the free agent market for the first overall pick from Florida State.
There has been little interest in Winston becoming a starter anywhere so far. The Pittsburgh Steelers showed interest in him being backup to Ben Roethlisberger, who was out the majority of 2019. When it comes to competing for a starting job, many suggest the Jacksonville Jaguars where he would compete with Gardner Minshew. So far there aren’t any indicators of interest. Another favorable backup situation is in New Orleans to replace the departed Teddy Bridgewater. He left to start for the Carolina Panthers. Brees is also on a short-term deal and will retire a Saint.
What Favors Jameis Winston?
When it comes to Steelers versus the Bucs, Winston is already familiar with Bruce Arians’ system. Roethlisberger likely has more years left in him than Brady. When it comes to preparing for worst-case scenarios, Winston is best equipped to handle Arians system.
Given the market quickly swooping up Drew Brees, Brady, Bridgewater, and Philip Rivers, the market hasn’t opened up for Winston as he might expect. If Winston decides to swallow his pride and play backing up Brady, not only would he gain invaluable experience behind arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history, he may find a more favorable free agent market in 2021.
While there are plenty who dream Winston swallows his pride and somehow re-signs with the Bucs, his ego likely won’t allow it. No one would blame him taking his chances elsewhere.
The turnaround begins now.
Photo credit: boston.com
