You remember Murphy’s Law, which states “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”? I feel like that law applies to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jameis Winston this season.
Entering the year, the front office hoped that the hiring of Bruce Arians would be just the thing to turn Winston’s career around, and hopefully give them clarity on whether or not he’s the long-term answer under center. But when the final whistle blew in Week 17, the team seemed further away from a decision than ever. That’s because Winston went out and had one of the most memorable seasons in recent memory. Not only did he surpass 5,000 passing yards, becoming just the eighth player ever to do so, but he also became the first quarterback ever to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a season.
Winston was playing on the fifth and final year of his rookie contract, so the Bucs can let him walk if they decide to go a different route. So, where would Winston rank among quarterbacks on the open market? In their ranking of the top 8 free agent quarterbacks, NFL.com has Winston listed at No. 7, ahead of only Marcus Mariota.
Here’s what writer Dan Parr thinks about Winston:
“Famous Jameis threw for a career-high 33 TD passes last season (second-most in the league). The problem is, he also hit the 30 mark in INTs, becoming the first 30-30 player ever. That’s not the kind of history you want to make. He continues to tease with some rapturous quarterbacking at times, but net-neutral QB play is not going to be enough for a team to be a consistent winner in this era of professional football. That’s right. It’s not going to lead to enough tasty Ws. The man is too often a victim of his own poor decision making to sniff the top tier.”
As for where he thinks Winston will ultimately end up landing this offseason, Parr says the only logical choice is Tampa Bay.
Per Parr (as fun to type as it is to say):
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, it makes perfect sense for the Bucs to begrudgingly welcome Winston back on a one-year deal. Tampa Bay holds the 14th pick in Round 1, which most likely will put them out of range to land one of the top quarterbacks available in this year’s draft (SEE: Daniel Jeremiah’s mock draft 1.0). Unless they plan to go all in on trading up to land one of those rookie passers, Winston will probably be their best option for 2020. Sorry, Bucs fans.”
I think there are more than a few Bucs fans who want to see Winston back in 2020. After all, several former quarterbacks, including Carson Palmer and Hall of Famer Steve Young, think Winston could have a big Year 2 under Bruce Arians.
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