Although the Buccaneers can entirely absolve themselves of Jameis Winston‘s $20.9MM cap hit for 2019 (barring injury), they are going to give the former No. 1 overall pick another shot, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who reports that Tampa Bay intends to bring Winston back next season.
As Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets, there was never any indication that the Bucs were going to move on from Winston, but today’s report is the first time we have heard something definitive on the matter. And it’s not as though Winston’s status with the club was a certainty. He was suspended for the first three games of this season due to a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy, which stemmed from an allegation that he groped a female Uber driver in 2016 (Winston and the driver reached a settlement last month). Plus, while he is a clearly talented and capable signal-caller, he is prone to inconsistent play.
But as Greg Auman of The Athletic observes, the Buccaneers would have to spend at least $20MM to land a QB as good as Winston, and even if they parted with Winston and tried to land a future franchise signal-caller in the draft, that would mean resetting the franchise’s clock in a big way (Twitter link). Auman does, however, think it would be reasonable for Tampa Bay to draft a QB prospect in the middle rounds of the 2019 draft to serve as a backup and potential challenger to Winston (Twitter link).
The fact that the Bucs are playing Winston in today’s meaningless finale — and are therefore exposing him to injury, which would trigger the $20.9MM guarantee — suggests that the club is indeed comfortable with Winston moving forward. But the team is also expected to fire head coach Dirk Koetter, and the new head coach may feel differently about Winston and may prefer to go in a different direction. It is unclear whether that will be a factor in the team’s hiring process.
Assuming he does return, Winston will try to break something of a dubious record in Tampa Bay. If he lands a second contract with the Bucs, he will be the first quarterback that the team has drafted in its 44-year history to do so.
Buccaneers will be lucky to have a 2 and 14 record next year. Winston is the same shitty Quarterback he was in college.
He only lost like two games in college and won a heisman right shitty qb tho
“YES!!!!” screams the rest of the NFC South.
Lol
Real what’s their other option? Bring back another year of Fitzmaic? Spend big on a Nick Foles? Bridgewater?Or reach i the draft? QB needed teams don’t have have much choice for next year.
I know i been saying this and theres still some that will say im an idiot because opinion still overrides stats. Anyone who watched the espn sunday morning countdown, got to see a good breakdown of the Eagles numbers when Wentz and Foles start. Please do some research before calling Foles a glorified backup.
Spend big on Foles? Winston will make 21 million. If foles is 25+ million still better money spent than on Winston
If Winston played all 16 games his numbers this season or projected to be 4100 passing yards 24 passing touchdowns and 19 interceptions. While the interceptions are not ideal with a bear quarterback draft class cannot blame Tampa for holding onto him
You are crazy, for nearly $21 million, I would rather sign Tyrod Taylor for 2 years than have Winston for 1. He has mike Evans, OJ Howard, Brate, deSean Jackson, Humphries and Godwin. Very capable skill position players and still would have a 24:19 TD:INT ratio, plus fumbles. He’s not worth $20+ million, never was and never will be. I would rather roll the dice on a lower cost veteran, which is the obvious right direction for this team.
The guy has lead the league in turnovers since he came in he’s not good at all. Might as well trade a 2nd to someone for a QB, unlikely though as they’ll probably want to spend it on another kicker.
There are bears being drafted as qb’s? *bare
And this is the reason they don’t win anything…
worst day ever….
For that much money, Winston is obviously being paid by the turnover.
Crazy thought … Tannehill for Winston deal with maybe some mid round to late round picks involved? I think they are both about the same dollarwise and dolphins dont seem to be too enthralled with keeping Tannehill from the reports seen and maybe Winston for a year on a different team may help him.
I like Tannehill personally and im a jets fan. Is he top qb no, but serviceable if he stays healthy yes. Also the bucs could develop a qb with potential in later round pick but still have a competitive team with him.
Bucs can move on from Winston for free (I.e. no dead money) and then can sign any FA they want, why limit yourself to Tannehill?
I’m actually neutral about this. If they move on from him….whos next? Free agent vet? Who? The cost will be similar anyway. Has he done the job? Sometimes. The potential is there… but will he ever reach it?
Huge bust
Maybe the Bucs can trade for Flacco or sign Bridgewater or Tyrod Taylor? A lot of comments are insinuating that the Bucs have to pay Winston $21 million next year because there are no other options… one option could be release Winston and then negotiate for half the rate they would pay him. No one in this league is going to pay Winston half of that $$.
winston commands locker room respect – teammates would die for him. it’s a no brainer
Winston is not a leader and he is not good. Those are no brainers. Cut his selfish ass.