Winston revival may be as backup
It’s crazy to think a man who just led the league with 5,109 passing yards can’t get a crack at a starting job in the quarterback-needy NFL.
I mean, Jameis Winston didn’t take a knee during the national anthem. He’s being replaced as the face of the Buccaneers franchise by a marquee man with six Super Bowl rings.
Oh, those 30 interceptions. That, too, led the NFL last season and has apparently come back to haunt Winston, who five years ago was picked No. 1 overall in the draft.
Yet even with the turnover issues, Winston, 26, would seem to possess significant upside to go with 70 starts’ worth of NFL experience.
You might think the Jaguars would wake up and consider Winston a better option than Gardner Minshew. But that franchise just traded away the option,
Nick Foles, to whom a year ago it committed a franchise-record $50 millionplus in guaranteed money.
As the quarterback chairs fill up and other possible possibilities (Chargers, Patriots) apparently not looking toward Winston, his near-term reality seems rooted in the backup market.
If that’s the case, here’s the perfect place to regroup:
Pittsburgh.
We saw the mess that occurred when
Ben Roethlisberger suffered a seasonending elbow injury last September. Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges were merely developmental plug-ins.
Sure, the Steelers expect Roethlisberger, 38, to return to form after surgery. But given Murphy’s Law – whatever can go wrong will go wrong – the Steelers would give themselves a better chance to survive any rehab setback or other injury to an aging Roethlisberger by having Winston in the fold.
And given Roethlisberger’s physical style on top of the general quarterback injury risk, the chance for Winston to play could come sooner rather than later.
Even if Roethlisberger stays healthy – he’s played all 16 games four times in 17 seasons – aligning with Mike Tomlin & Co. would be a good thing for Winston.
Randy Fichtner coordinates the Steelers’ offense, and it’s apparent he was endorsed by Roethlisberger when promoted last year from quarterbacks coach.
No, the Steelers’ offensive brain trust doesn’t compare to what Teddy Bridgewater benefited from in working with Sean Payton and Drew Brees in two years as the Saints backup. But New Orleans already has a backup quarterback projected for a larger role in Taysom Hill.
Then there’s the future.
In Pittsburgh, Winston can potentially position himself as the heir apparent to Roethlisberger, if not for another starting role elsewhere. Carrying a clipboard would hardly be the first option for a player who has been through the NFL fires as Winston has.
He was the only NFL quarterback to pass for 5,000 yards last season, which should at least put him in competition to start.
Yet on the often weird landscape of the NFL, Winston might have to ultimately accept that clipboard as the best option. And if that’s the deal, Pittsburgh would make a lot of sense for all parties involved.