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The New Orleans Saints wanted another backup quarterback behind Drew Brees, and they found one in Jameis Winston. The former first-overall draft pick became one of the few quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the 30 interceptions he lobbed caused his former team to move on from him.
While no deal has been signed by Winston with the Saints just yet, it’s expected to be a one-year contract that lets him compete for the backup job with Taysom Hill. And that’s smart — nothing should be handed out freely in the NFL, much less the right to go into a game in relief of Drew Brees. But the timing on this arrangement is a critical factor.
Per the new league collective bargaining agreement, veteran free agents signed after the Monday following the NFL draft will not factor into the next year’s compensatory pick formula: that puts the cutoff at 3:00 p.m. CT on Monday, April 27.
Normally, the Saints wouldn’t care about this. They’ve received the fewest comp picks in the NFL since the seven-round draft was created, owing to their proactive approach in free agency. But they’re projected to receive a third-round pick (for Teddy Bridgewater) and a sixth-round pick (for A.J. Klein) next season if nothing changes.
Per Nick Korte of Over The Cap, if the Saints do not wait until that deadline they will lose one of those two extra draft picks. If Winston’s contract averages more than $14 million per year, they would forfeit the third-round selection. If it’s less than that, the sixth rounder goes out the window.
That’s not ideal, and The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell suggests that the Saints are keenly aware of it, telling fans to not expect any movement until after the deadline. It makes sense considering the Saints already trading their 2021 draft picks in those rounds to move up in this year’s event, using those resources to help acquire linebacker Zack Baun and quarterback Tommy Stevens. That’s what you call strategic.
Obviously the Saints will hope they can coach some bad habits out of Winston. His previous career-high for interceptions was 18, with Bruce Arians’ aggressively vertical, “no risk it, no biscuit” philosophy aggravating the problems that Winston has struggled with since his college days. In New Orleans, he’ll be playing in an offense that stress ball security and making the throw on time. He wouldn’t be the first quarterback to thrive in a new environment.
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