The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t been to the postseason since 2007, but given all the chatter surrounding the club as we approach free agency, you’d think they were already Super Bowl favorites heading into 2020.
That’ll happen when a guy like Tom Brady is linked to your team. While Tampa Bay can still opt to bring Jameis Winston back, those 30 interceptions make it hard to justify paying the former number one overall pick, even if it is just on a one-year deal.
Winston could very well be done in Tampa Bay, and according to Marc Sessler over at NFL.com, Winston is the riskiest free agent of 2020. Even if the Bucs don’t bring him back, Sessler thinks it will be hard for the former Heisman Trophy winner to find work as a starter in 2020.
Per Sessler:
“With a record-setting seven pick-sixes in 2019, Winston appears to be done in Tampa — with the Bucs reportedly hot to trot for Brady — and realistically out of rope as a starting NFL quarterback. No franchise can sell Winston as a QB1 due to his perilous ball security. The risk is reduced in a backup role, but that scenario screams for some under-fire coach turning to Jameis in, say, Week 7 — and suffering the consequences.”
If Winston is destined to be a backup in 2020, there are several experts, including Peter King of NBC Sports, who feel he could benefit from sitting for a year behind a guy like Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. Winston would get a chance to learn from Big Ben — another Bruce Arians protege — and inherit the starting job once Ben calls it a career. Plus, he’d be coached by Mike Tomlin, one of the most respected, no-nonsense coaches in the league.
It might not be the ideal situation for Winston in the short term, but long term, it could pay big dividends.
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