So much for Sean Payton’s poker face. The New Orleans Saints coach tried not to disguise the team’s desire to re-sign freelancer quarterback Jameis Winston if Drew Brees retired as expected.
Payton spoke cheerfully of Winston to ESPN and other media outlets as he made some Super Bowl week appearances on Wednesday, saying the Saints would like to re-sign him “ sooner than later. ”
Payton also specifically told CBS Sports’ Choose six podcasts that he expects Brees to make an announcement “in the next two weeks”.
Payton has been saying for months that he thinks the Saints’ next quarterback is already “in the building” – a reference that includes both Winston and Taysom Hill. And he reiterated on Wednesday that the Saints have “pretty good vision” for both players.
It was noteworthy that Payton first mentioned Winston and spoke about him in more detail when asked about the Saints’ future QB plans by ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin Show, and by NFL Networks.Good morning footballshow – say it was an “easy” question.
However, Payton stressed that the reason he named Winston first was because he is a free agent and Hill has been under contract for a year.
“Jameis Winston, we know. We had a year with him. He was fantastic as a leader. He has tremendous arm talent. He’s a young candidate who we really like,” Payton said in his ESPN appearance. “If you have a player for a season, he gives you a little bit of a chance to see what he’s about, and there’s a little audition there. Hey, this is how they do it here. Does this suit me? Does this head coach, this position coach fit? Is this a place where I feel comfortable playing? ”
Payton told “Good Morning Football”, “Often you want to keep your cards closer to the vest [with a] free agent. But he, along with Taysom Hill, we’ve been saying it all along, we’re going to develop and coach those guys. And Jameis is one of those guys that we have a great interest in. “
Winston, who just turned 27 in January, signed a one-year deal with the Saints for $ 1.1 million plus incentives last spring as he specifically wanted to learn under Payton and Brees as he tried to revive his career. He called it “an education at Harvard in quarterback school”.
Winston did not gain much experience on the field as there was no pre-season and Payton chose to start Hill while Brees was offside for four games due to broken ribs and a punctured lung. However, Winston made his best play of the season when he completed a 56-yard touchdown pass on a trick play in the loss of the New Orleans playoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Winston was 7th of 11 for 75 yards in the regular season with no touchdowns or turnovers.
Hill, 30, went 3-1 in those four starts, with some highs and some lows. But Payton explained that part of the reason he chose Hill over Winston was because Hill was in New Orleans in his fourth year – and Payton had promised Hill that he would get such an opportunity when he re-signed last year as a limited free agent.
It looks like this year would be more of an open competition between Winston and Hill, assuming the Saints aren’t making any other big moves on the position.
Winston naturally showed his own plethora of highs and lows during his first five seasons with the Buccaneers after being selected from the state of Florida with the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NFL draft. The 2013 Heisman Trophy winner led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards in 2019 in his freshman year under coach Bruce Arians. But he also became the first quarterback in league history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in the same season – which led to Tampa Bay passing to Tom Brady.
Winston went 28-42 in his five seasons as a starter with the Bucs, completing 61.3% of his passing with 19,737 yards, 121 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. Sales were his biggest problem, with a total of 111 in five years.