Tampa Bay entertaining 2-pact with Jameis Winston
With questions swirling everyday about the impending decision the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to make on quarterback Jameis Winston, some news came in on Thursday to potentially give the situation a little more clarity.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported Thursday morning via Twitter that the Buccaneers are entertaining offering a 2-year deal to Winston, with a team option for the second season. The first season would see Winston get paid reportedly $27-million and then based on production in 2020, get picked up on the team option.
Winston in 2019 became the first quarterback to throw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season and also became the first Buccaneers’ quarterback to ever throw for more than 5,000 yards in a campaign. The decision to give Winston with a short-term pact is up in the air, but there will be options if Tampa Bay decides to move on from the former Florida State Star.
Reports have come in all throughout the off-season if potential replacements for Winston, including the likes of New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, New England’s Tom Brady and former Los Angeles Chargers’ signal caller Phillip Rivers. Rivers has been heavily linked to Tampa Bay, as the former Charger and his family have moved down to Florida recently.
Options through free agency will be there for Tampa Bay, but the Buccaneers could also take a closer look at several of the college prospects that are going to be available in the 2020 NFL Draft in Las Vegas. Amongst the list of quarterbacks slated to be in the draft are LSU’s Joe Burrows, Oregon’s Justin Herbert and Alabama’s Tua Tagovialoa.
The decision to go with a veteran quarterback seems more likely for Tampa Bay, as the window to win a Super Bowl with Bruce Arians as the head coach looms slimmer. Arians is currently 67 years old and signed a 4-year deal when he joined Tampa Bay last season. The former Arizona Cardinals’ lead man guided the Colts and the former to playoff appearances and looks to do the same in Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay entertaining the idea brings us closer to the answer for the question of the off-season. Can Arians make the Buccaneers a winner with Winston under center? That’s been the burning question every national news outlet has been asking and if Tampa Bay decides to bring Winston back, he will need to cut down on the turnovers immensely or his time as a Buccaneer will most certainly be over.
