Jameis Winston sees 'opportunity' in role as Deshaun Watson's backup with Cleveland Browns

Jameis Winston has been used to being "The Man" when it comes to playing quarterback.

Winston was The Man while leading Florida State to the BCS national championship in 2013 and to the first College Football Playoffs in 2014. He was The Man when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him No. 1 overall in the 2015 draft and made him their starting quarterback for 70 of the 72 games in which he played over a five-year run.

Even after spending a year behind Drew Brees in 2020 with the New Orleans Saints, Winston appeared to be The Man again to start the 2021 season. Then he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear that cost him the final nine games of that season, and a chance to stay The Man.

The next year, after injuries again struck three games into the Saints' 2022 season, Winston saw his chance to be The Man disappear. First it was to Andy Dalton for the remainder of that season, then to Derek Carr last season.

Winston yet again finds himself as the man behind The Man now after signing a one-year deal with the Browns Wednesday, the same day they also signed former Baltimore Ravens backup Tyler Huntley. He comes to Cleveland as the expected backup to Deshaun Watson, a quarterback who Winston first got to know while both of them were the The Man in college at ACC rivals Florida State and Clemson.

"The biggest thing about this relationship is not only is this going to be a credible relationship because me and him have both had a lot of success throughout our football career, but it’s going to be a relatable experience with us both being African-American quarterbacks out of the deep South," Winston said during an introductory Zoom call Wednesday. "So I’ve experienced some of the certain things that he’s experienced throughout his career, which allows him to be able to depend on me or to lean on me to different specific avenues that he might want to pursue or any questions that he might have.

"But one of the biggest things that I’m bringing to Deshaun is just really support and encouragement because he has achieved so much and that’s why he is this organization’s franchise quarterback."

The last time Winston started a game was in Week 3 of the 2022 season, a loss at the Carolina Panthers. He didn't get on the field again until Week 3 of last season, when he made the first of seven appearances off the bench for the Saints at the Green Bay Packers.

Winston started 80 of the first 87 NFL games in which he appeared. The last seven, though, he's found himself cast as an understudy.

Where some, though, may see obstacle, Winston sees something else.

"The most important thing that I saw and I continue to talk about it, is just the opportunity," Winston said. "The opportunity that we get as football players. We've been playing this sport — me, myself — since I've been 4 years old. So the experiences that I've been able to accumulate, the experiences that have taught me things for anyone's benefit, like just the wisdom that I have attained, whether it's strategic from a football side or whether it’s emotional, physical from just a personable side."

Winston's gone through his own share of experiences — some good, some bad and some of his own doing, even a little ugly. There have been on-field struggles, including a year in which he threw a league-high 30 interceptions, with Tampa Bay and injuries to his ACL, his back and his foot with New Orleans.

There was also an incident in 2018 while with the Buccaneers in which he was suspended three games for personal conduct policy violations. That suspension followed an investigation that concluded he inappropriately touched an Uber driver in a sexual manner without her consent.

"I think from the outside looking in, a lot of people view football players as these athletes who put themselves on the pedestal," Winston said. "But growing and experiencing the highs and lows and learning how to be content with every situation that I'm in has just created a different type of confidence and a different type of will. Knowing that I can impact anybody, anywhere despite the role that I may have."

The role Winston may have in Cleveland could be among the more unique ones of his career. While he arrives as the understood backup to Watson, he does so knowing that the established starter won't be ready to play for some time.

Watson was only this week starting to throw again after undergoing surgery Nov. 21 to repair a broken glenoid and other structural damage in his throwing shoulder. That's likely to leave him extremely limited for any part of the Browns' voluntary offseason program, which starts with off-the-field meetings April 15 before beginning on-the-field activities in May.

The expectation remains that Watson will be back for training camp in late July. Winston said, regardless of when Watson returns, he's ready to fully offer himself up to help.

"I look forward to allowing him to lean on me for anything that he needs and also encouraging him and providing him with different resources that he probably hasn't gotten from people that have been in the same room as him," Winston said. "Whether that's film studies, film tendencies, whether that's cooperating with the receiver room, cooperating with the running backs, just serving him and this team the best way that I can.

"… So I'm so excited to work with this young man and allow him, help him be what he is capable of being, and that's being one of the best quarterbacks in this league."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jameis Winston sees 'opportunity' with backup QB role with Browns