Saints got a steal of a deal in signing Winston
The best free agent purchase in memory (at least mine) was made by the New Orleans Saints this NFL off-season.
Quite conceivably, Jameis Winston could lead them to their fourth consecutive division title, if not the Super Bowl.
All at a bargain basement price. Drew Brees is still one of the best quarterbacks and leaders in the league. He’s been amazingly durable, starting 231 of 240 games over his last 15 years.
But five of those he missed were last season and, at 41 years old, he is now in need of a really good insurance policy.
That’s Winston. Big time.
The only reason the guy who led the league in passing last season was available is because he also became the first quarterback to throw 30 interceptions along with at least 30 TD passes.
It’s understandable, I suppose, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved on from him when they won the bidding for Tom Brady. But it’s confusing that no other team gave the 26-year-old former first-overall pick a shot at its starting QB job, and downright confounding that the Saints were able to score him for US$1.1 million on a one-year deal.
At that, a total of 51 quarterbacks will be paid more than the 2019 passing yards champ, including Geno Smith, who didn’t throw a ball last year, and Mike Glennon, who threw 10 times. Oh, and also Brady’s two backups in Tampa — Ryan Griffin and Blaine Gabbert — who made four passes combined.
Meanwhile, Winston is going to New Orleans in the right frame of mind, ready to learn from Brees and coach Sean Payton.
And apparently he’s in great shape, with the help of a vegan diet that has pushed him to lose almost 20 pounds from his 6-foot-4 frame, and with a mended mitt. It’s worth mentioning 10 of Winston’s 30 picks came after he broke his thumb.
After falling from a high to money low (he’ll make $3.8 million below the league average for QBS), it’s important Winston has not lost his confidence.
“I know what I’m worth,” he recently told Bleacher Report, “and I know day in and day out, without publicly coming in and saying it, that historically I’m one of the best quarterbacks to play the game.”
Brash, but it’s true. He’s the eighth QB to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.
Now Winston just has to cut down on the mistakes. Maybe maturity will help. Maybe being unwanted was the slap in the face he needed. But he should now know he has to change his ways after 88 interceptions over five seasons in Tampa.
“Sometimes your biggest strength can be your biggest weakness,” he said. “I’m an attacker. I try to attack constantly. Learning how to manage that attack mode and how to manage that not-attack mode is the balance. I’m trying to find that perfect balance.”
Winston is prepared to become the “best version of himself,” by “taking care of the ball and being cool as the other side of the pillow. This is not over for me,” he said. “My entire life I’ve been a winner. Obviously the NFL is a little more difficult. But I’ve been a winner. I don’t want to be viewed as a loser. It’s going to come. It’s going to happen. This is something I’ve been fighting for my entire life.
“If people think I’m just going to lay down and give up because of a few losing seasons, that’s never going to be the case.”
More likely he’ll be the best free agent pickup in anybody’s memory.