After over a month in free agency, Jameis Winston has found a new home, and it's back in the NFC South.
The New Orleans Saints are expected to sign the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback to a one-year deal, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Yahoo Sports first reported the news.
Replaced this spring by a living legend in Tom Brady in Tampa Bay, Winston will now play under another, Drew Brees, in the Bayou. The veteran Saints signal-caller just recently signed a two-year deal through 2021 to remain New Orleans' starter, but also inked a lucrative deal with NBC Sports as a future analyst, on which he could cash in whenever he retires.
If and when Brees does leave New Orleans, perhaps at the end of the 2020 season, Winston could be the next man up. But the former No. 1 overall pick will have competition.
Behind Brees, the Saints employ Swiss Army human Taysom Hill, whom they signed to a $21 million extension through 2021 on Sunday, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. New Orleans also traded back into the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday to select Mississippi State QB Tommy Stevens.
On the depth chart, Winston replaces Teddy Bridgewater, who filled in for Brees in five undefeated starts and parlayed that performance into a starting gig with the Panthers. Winston is hoping to replicate his predecessor's outcome.
In all likelihood, the '20 campaign will play out with Winston maturing behind Brees, waiting for a starting job to open up around the league, in New Orleans or elsewhere.
Despite leading the league with 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns, Winston found it hard to locate a starting job in the first month of free agency. Part of that was due to the fact that Jameis also led the league with 30 interceptions and had just become the first "30-30" quarterback in NFL history, but most of it stemmed from extraordinary circumstances around the NFL and the world. A global pandemic was as likely as all 32 NFL teams having bona fide starters projected in place heading into the draft.
But Winston has found a home now in New Orleans. The same cannot be said for his former NFC South counterpart Cam Newton, a league MVP who remains a free agent. Like Winston, Newton has been hoping for a starting job. But with the Bengals, Dolphins and Chargers filling that need in the draft, it looks like Newton will have to settle, like Winston, for backup duties in 2020.