Jameis Winston on his NFL future: ‘I’m not a free agent just yet, I have one more year’
Jameis Winston and Terron Armstead are in town as honorary captains for the @HBCULegacyBowl. We'll have more from the game tonight at 6 on @WWLTV
Winston was asked about his contract situation and where his health is at during the @nflnetwork broadcast #Saints pic.twitter.com/BZDxjw1p2U
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) February 25, 2023
Jameis Winston was selected as an honorary captain for this year’s HBCU Legacy Bowl at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, and he made an appearance from the broadcast booth during NFL Network’s coverage of the college all-star game. And Winston made sure to remind everyone, too, that he’s still the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints.
“Technically I’m not a free agent just yet, I have one more year under contract,” Winston said on NFL Network when asked about his future in New Orleans. He added, “My main thing right now is, I’ll stay healthy and be ready to play. That’s the only thing that’s on my mind. I’ve got to be ready to play, because when given the opportunity, I look forward to taking advantage of it.”
He’s right — at the moment, Winston and practice squad passer Jake Luton are the only quarterbacks under contract with New Orleans for 2023 (not counting Taysom Hill, whom Dennis Allen moved to tight end last year). Andy Dalton started 14 of their 17 games last season but he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent in March.
But that’s expected to change. Allen never turned back to Winston after benching him due to injury early in the 2022 season, and it sure seems like that bridge is burnt. The Saints can save $12.8 million by releasing Winston with a post-June 1 designation this offseason, and it would be a bit of a surprise if they didn’t take that route after making a hard pursuit after former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Still, we shouldn’t say there’s no scenario where Winston is wearing black and gold in September. He could very well patch things up with Allen and the Saints could decide he’s still their best option when healthy. That just doesn’t feel like the easiest or likeliest outcome.
