FSU alums: Jameis Winston betting on himself in New Orleans?

Former FSU football quarterback Jameis Winston signed a one-year deal Monday, worth up to 12 million dollars to remain with the New Orleans Saints.

The news came with the expectation of Drew Brees retiring, with Taysom Hill going into the final year of his two-year deal with the Saints.

Hill went 3-1 in four starts for the Saints in 2020 with Drew Brees out due to injuries. Winston only appeared in four games, completing 7 of 11 passes for 75 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Could Jameis Winston be betting on himself in New Orleans to win the starting job? There will be a quarterback competition based on Saint’s head coach Sean Payton’s comments in a recent interview with ESPN:

"“Those two are gonna be sitting there,” Payton said. “Obviously I’ve told both of them, ‘Hey, the two of you are gonna compete for this position,’ and they understand it. They’ll come in … we’ve already had a chance to see both of them to some degree.“I think last year was important to us relative to Jameis. … It gave us a year to evaluate him, and it also gave him a year to evaluate us. I think that was important.”"

The one-year deal does a couple of things for Winston. If he wins the starting job in New Orleans and has a great 2021 season, it’ll give him a ton of leverage with the Saints or any team in the market for a starting quarterback.

As we’ve seen, quality quarterback play comes at a premium, and Winston’s history with the Saints with Sean Payton would make them favorites to keep his services.

However, if another team came calling with a better deal, he could take that deal and get paid a nice chunk of change. Winston turned 27 years old in January, and Hill will be 31 years old in August.

Parting Thoughts

One has to believe Winston believes he can beat out Taysom Hill for the starting quarterback position. Winston is the proven quarterback with Hill representing more of a gadget-type player that can run or flex out wide as a wide receiver.

Do the Saints believe they can compete for an NFC South Championship with Hill as the starter? Maybe, as they don’t plan to bring in anyone else to compete for the job. Here’s to hoping Jameis Winston competes and wins the job so folks will put respect back on his name after the last couple of seasons.