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Pens have not yet been put to paper on a deal between the New Orleans Saints and free agent quarterback Jameis Winston, but the contract is expected to be finalized soon now that the NFL’s compensatory draft pick cutoff date has passed by.
Whenever Winston does end up signing with the Saints, he’ll face a very important decision: which jersey number to wear. That’s the most important factor in deciding whether a player will thrive or fail in the NFL, and both of Winston’s likely preferences — Nos. 3 and 13 — are each currently occupied by Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz and All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas. He might be able to revert to his college number, having worn No. 5 at Florida State.
However, Winston does have one option: buying his new number from a teammate. And that’s a conversation Lutz is eager to entertaining, joking on Twitter that, “Every man has his price!”
Every man has his price! My ears are open #3 ⚜️😏@Jaboowins https://t.co/By18GtAYyx
— Wil Lutz (@wil_lutz5) April 26, 2020
Funny as Lutz’s response may be, it’s a sure bet that some superstitious Saints fans aren’t laughing. Beliefs in the supernatural don’t permeate football as strongly as, say, baseball, but it’s still there if you look for it. Everyone has a pregame ritual (Drew Brees, for example, insists on a plate of beefy mac for dinner the night before kickoffs) and Lutz switching things up with his jersey number could bring some unwelcome energy into the kicking game.
So we’ll be keeping an eye on this situation, taking care to knock on wood when appropriate. The last thing the Saints need in such a critical year is for their golden-booted kicker to lose his mojo.
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