So much for Sean Payton’s poker face. New Orleans Saints coach did not try to hide the team’s desire to re-sign free agent defender Jameis Winston if Drew Brees retires as expected.
Payton spoke highly of Winston to ESPN and other media as he made several appearances at the Super Bowl on Wednesday, saying the Saints would like to re-sign him “sooner rather than later.”
Payton also told CBS Sports in particular Choose Six Podcast that Brees is expected to make an announcement “in the next week or two.”
Payton has been saying for months that he believes the Saints’ next defender is already “in the building” – a reference that includes both Winston and Taysom Hill. And he reiterated on Wednesday that the saints have a “pretty good vision” for both players.
It was remarkable that Payton first mentioned Winston and talked about him in more detail when asked about Saints’ upcoming QB plans by Keyshawn, ESPN’s JWill & Zubin Show and the NFL Network. “Good morning football“Shows – saying it was an” easy “question.
However, Payton pointed out that the reason he first mentioned Winston was that he was a free agent and Hill was already under contract for another year.
“Jameis Winston, we know. We had a year with him. He was fantastic as a leader. He has an extraordinary arm talent. He’s a young prospect that we really like,” Payton said in his appearance on ESPN. “When you have a player for a season, he gives you a kind of chance to see what it’s about, and there’s a bit of an audition there. But the same audition takes place for us. He’s got a chance to see” Hey, that’s how they do it. here. It fits me? Do I like this head coach, this position coach? Is it a place where I feel comfortable playing? ‘”
Payton told “Good Morning Football”: “Many times you want to keep the cards closer to the vest [with a] free agent. But he and Taysom Hill, I said all the time, we’re going to develop and train those guys. And Jameis is one of those guys we’re very interested in. “
Winston, who just turned 27 in January, signed a $ 1.1 million deal with the Saints last spring because he especially wanted to study under Payton and Brees while trying to revives his career. He called it “an education at Harvard in quarterback school.”
Winston didn’t have much experience on the field, since there was no preseason and Payton chose to start Hill, while Brees was eliminated for four games of broken ribs and a perforated lung. However, Winston made the best play of the season when he completed a 56-yard touchdown pass on a play-off piece in the New Orleans playoff loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Winston was 7-of-11 for 75 yards in the regular season with no touchdowns or turnovers.
Hill, 30, went 3-1 in those four starts, with a few highs and some lows. But Payton explained that part of the reason he chose Hill over Winston was because Hill was in his fourth year in New Orleans – and Payton had promised Hill he would have such an opportunity when the year was signed. passed as a restricted free agent.
It seems that this year would be more of an open competition between Winston and Hill, assuming that the saints do not make other big moves in this position.
Winston, of course, showed his own plethora of highs and lows in the first five seasons with the Buccaneers after being selected as the No. 1 Florida State in the 2015 NFL Draft. The 2013 Heisman Trophy winner led the NFL 5,109 yards. in 2019 in his first year under coach Bruce Arians. But he also became the first defender in league history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in the same season – prompting Tampa Bay to replace Tom Brady.
Winston went 28-42 in his five seasons as a Bucs starter, completing 61.3% of his passes with 19,737 yards, 121 touchdowns and 88 interceptions. Turnover was his biggest problem, with a total of 111 in five years.