Sean Payton's Latest Comments on Jameis Winston Seem Like an Accidental Shot at Saints Backup QB
By Andrew Gullotta
The addition of Jameis Winston in New Orleans sounds like a win-win for both sides. The Saints added another backup quarterback to give them outstanding depth, and Winston gets to learn from Drew Brees and try to revitalize his career in one of the best situations in football.
Winston is coming off a year where he led the league with his 5,109 passing yards and added 33 touchdowns (plus 30 interceptions). If you ask Sean Payton, though, that means he would have been a pretty solid prospect for the 2020 draft. Wait, what?
Sean Payton: Jameis Winston would have graded "extremely well" in 2020 draft class https://t.co/iH2Zk8fHBP
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 15, 2020
Essentially, Payton was trying to say Winston provides a lot of raw value with his physical traits. Yes, he may be a veteran, but he still has plenty of things to work on.
By saying this, it also seems that Payton is comparing Winston to a developmental piece, which was the reason that the Florida State product came to New Orleans in the first place. Saying he would have graded extremely well in this draft seems like a bit of a slight, but don't expect Winston to lose any sleep over this.
Saints HC Sean Payton told @JasonLaCanfora & @KenWeinmanSport he's excited to work with Jameis Winston. Thinks he would "grade fairly well" in this draft class. Jokingly said, Tampa Bay forced Lovie Smith to lose to the Saints on purpose so the Bucs could draft him.
— 105.7 The Fan (@1057TheFan) May 14, 2020
While the 26-year-old will be riding the pine behind Brees this season, that doesn't mean it'll be a lost campaign for him. He'll be learning from a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the best quarterbacks of all time in Brees. Should he take advantage of this opportunity, Winston could become a QB1 in this league sooner than later.