Pass on QB head coach

They signed him to a five-year $24-million contract for the express purpose of coaching Michael Vick.

At the time, Vick was a six-year veteran and an electrifying playmaker but wildly inconsistent.

He had thrown 71 touchdowns and 52 interceptions and owned a 38-28 record. In 2004, he led the Falcons to the NFC championship game to the Eagles.

The Falcons saw Petrino as the quarterback whisperer for Vick.

It never happened.

News of Vick’s involvement in a dogfighting ring broke in April. He was suspended by the NFL in August.

Petrino knew it was over. The team wasn’t built well enough to withstand the loss of their QB.

With three games left in the season, Petrino left the Falcons in Dec. 11. He never addressed the team. Instead, he put a foursentence laminated note in each player’s locker.

The front office had to convince Petrino to even address his coaches. The same night he was named the Arkansas Razorbacks coach.

Arians is a much, much better coach than Bobby Petrino. He’s also a better head coach than Koetter.

Arians was the NFL’s Coach of the Year for the Colts and the Cardinals.

While Arians has said he doesn’t “give a damn” how Winston played before he got here, the front office and ownership sure does. They’re the ones who must decide whether to use a $25- to $27-million franchise tag on Winston to bring him back in 2020.

And at 4-7 and picking 11th in the NFL draft, what are the Bucs’ options?

Re-sign Winston and hope he becomes more consistent after five years of inconsistency or try to thread the needle with a free-agent bridge quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater, Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers or perhaps Andy Dalton while developing a young guy.

The Bucs were a flawed team long before Arians arrived.

Too many resources were used building around Winston on the offensive side of the football. In the last two seasons, the pendulum swung the other way with six defensive backs selected in the first four rounds. Those players are green but growing.

Even so, there are other holes to fill on both the offensive and defensive lines. That foundation was never completely built.

Virtually every player on the defensive line and outside linebacker will likely become a free agent besides Vita Vea in 2020.