New Orleans Saints bring back JB Jameis Winston on a 1-year contract worth up to $ 12 million, says source

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Defender Jameis Winston now has the opportunity to become Drew Brees’ successor with the New Orleans Saints.

Just one day after Brees announced his retirement, Winston and the Saints reached an agreement on a one-year deal worth up to $ 12 million, a league source told Adam Schefter, of ESPN.

Former general winner of draft no. 1 and the Heisman Trophy winner spent the first five seasons as a starter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before signing a one-year deal in New Orleans last summer to try to revive the Saints’ backup career.

Although Winston played sparingly, the Saints were impressed enough to bring him back to compete with Taysom Hill for this year’s starting job.

“Who Dat! #NOLA #DreamForever ”, the former general selection no. 1 and winner of the Heisman Trophy posted on Twitter Monday evening.

Sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the Chicago Bears were serious suitors for Winston in the free agency process Monday before choosing the Saints.

The Saints will have to carve out a little more salary cap space before the league’s new year begins on Wednesday. They started off-season by nearly $ 100 million over the limit, but cut that figure to about $ 10 million by the beginning of this week.

Winston, who turned 27 in January, went 28-42 as a starter in Tampa, completing 61.3% of his passes with 19,737 yards, 121 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. He displayed some dynamic highs and lows during that role – especially in 2019. That year, he led the league with 5,109 yards, but also became the first defender in NFL history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes. and 30 interceptions in the same season. .

Turnovers were Winston’s biggest hurdle, with a total of 111 in the league from 2015 to 2019.

When the Buccaneers chose to move to Tom Brady, Winston decided to try to revive his career in New Orleans. He signed a one-year deal worth just $ 1.1 million plus incentives because he said he wanted to receive a “Harvard quarterback education” under the leadership of Sean Payton and Brees.

Winston didn’t have much field experience in New Orleans, behind Brees and Hill. But he made the best play of the season when he completed a 56-meter touchdown pass on a piece rigged in the Saints playoff loss to his former team. Winston was 7-of-11 for 75 yards in the regular season with no touchdowns or turnovers.

Payton made it clear after the season that the Saints wanted to re-enroll Winston and let him compete with Hill for the starting position after Brees’ retirement. Payton said Winston was “fantastic as a leader” in addition to his arm talent.

Winston was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season after an eight-month NFL investigation concluded that he engaged in harmful behavior in March 2016 by touching a female Uber driver “in an inappropriate and sexual manner without consent. They”. An agreement was reached in a separate trial.

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