Jameis Winston Could Still Start for New Orleans Someday

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4 years ago

Drew Brees Taysom Hill Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints

Despite New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton’s decision to start converted tight end Taysom Hill over actual quarterback Jameis Winston after starter Drew Brees was injured, there is still a future for Winston to lead the Saints. Jameis Winston will have a chance to start once Brees retires, which is widely anticipated following this season.

“One of the attractions for Jameis, and I understand it, was there aren’t many places in free agency where you can go to a team and have a pretty good bet that that quarterback like Drew is going to be playing in his last year,” Payton said in an interview on the NFL’s “Huddle and Flow” podcast. “That doesn’t exist. You go to a team and … you’re going to look for that opportunity to some time be a starter. He’s going to have that opportunity the minute Drew leaves, and both he and Taysom know that.”

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Taysom Hill is currently 3-1 as a starter, posting 209 passing yards a game alongside four touchdowns against two interceptions. After throwing 13 total passes in his first two years as a pro, he is completing his 119 attempts at a 72.3% rate for a passer rating of 98.7.

Winston, meanwhile, is just 7-for-11 passing for 75 yards this year over two games. This comes after his infamous 5,109 yard-33 touchdown-30 interception season in 2019. The Saints signed him to a one-year, $1.1 million deal.

Despite the acquisition of 2019’s passing yards leader, Payton went with Hill when Brees suffered his rib injury.

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“I had basically given Taysom my word in the offseason that – hey, this is long before Jameis even arrived – that he would have that opportunity as the (No.) 2 coming back here,” Payton said. “I believe Taysom is ascending, getting better at this position and I believe there’s a certain skill set – they’re different players, but I believe our future quarterback sits here, and Jameis definitely is a starter.”

The New Orleans Saints lost the NFC’s No. 1 seed after an upset loss to rookie Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, but there are now three capable quarterbacks at the team’s disposal come playoff time, once Drew Brees returns. Payton is 8-4 without Drew Brees since becoming New Orleans’ head coach in 2006.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Saints’ front office on deciding the future of the organization once Brees hangs his jersey up.

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