With Tom Brady signing a free-agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday, that obviously means the Bucs will not be trying to re-sign former Heisman Trophy-winning No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston. His rookie contract was up.
Now that Brady is in Tampa, Philip Rivers in Indianapolis and Teddy Bridgewater in Charlotte, where might Winston land after many quarterback dominos have fallen? There's no questioning Winston's ability as he led the NFL with a career-high 5,109 yards passing last season and was second to NFL MVP Lamar Jackson with 33 touchdown passes.
However, Winston also led the league by far with 30 interceptions, becoming the first player in NFL history with a 30 TD/30 INT season. His seven interceptions returned for touchdowns was an NFL record, and his last pass of the season was a pick-six (then again, so was Brady's with New England in the playoff loss to Tennessee). The former Florida State star by far leads the league in turnovers since entering it in 2015.
So, Winston is clearly high-risk but potentially high-reward and would surely come cheap right now. He might have to sign with a team as a projected backup and hope to take over the starting role and salvage his career like Ryan Tannehill did in 2019 – hey, the Titans could use a backup.
Here are four realistic options – and one admittedly not too realistic -- for Winston in 2020, although where Cam Newton might land is going to affect this.
New England Patriots: Obviously, the Patriots are in need of a veteran quarterback of some sort even if Bill Belichick thinks that 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham can be the long-term answer. Belichick might want someone less-turnover prone like Newton or Andy Dalton.
Chicago Bears: Bears GM Ryan Pace says 2017 No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky is his starter entering 2020 but that he wants to sign a quarterback to provide competition for the disappointing Trubisky. Winston has accomplished a lot more in the NFL than Mitch has.
Los Angeles Chargers: The Bolts finished runner-up for Brady and Tyrod Taylor projects as their starter, but Winston's upside is clearly higher and he would bring at least a bit more buzz than Taylor as the Chargers look to sell tickets as they move into that $5 billion SoFi Stadium in L.A.
Miami Dolphins: The Fins are expected to draft Tua Tagovailoa in April's draft, but perhaps they sign Winston to a one-year deal and let Tua sit, get healthy and learn for a season?
Dallas Cowboys: What if Dak Prescott holds out because he was slapped with the franchise tag? Winston at a minimum would be a much better backup option than Cooper Rush, and the Cowboys need Prescott insurance if they are all-in to win a Super Bowl in 2020. Dallas is currently +1200 to do so on the William Hill NFL futures odds, fifth-shortest odds (just ahead of Tampa Bay). Will this happen? This probably won't happen but makes some sense. The division-rival Eagles also could use a better backup option to injury-prone Carson Wentz than Nate Sudfeld, who did just get a one-year deal but at a very low number.
