NFL News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

In A Shocking Move, Jameis Winston is Embracing the Cleveland Browns

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Michael Allen | Last updated 3/13/24

Jameis Winston should have been a dream come true for the Saints. He played under Drew Brees and could have run the world. But now, he’s heading to Cleveland and the Saints haven’t even figured out why yet.

According to Josina Anderson of CBS Sports, Jameis Winston had the Browns interested. At the time of her report, they weren’t the only team though. The Titans and the Giants were also looking at him. That was only a few hours ago and now, according to ESPN, the Browns have signed him.

Jameis Winston has it in him to become a football legend. He’s a Heisman Trophy winner from Florida State back in 2014. He won his Heisman in 2013 along with the Walter Camp Award, the Manning Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, and how many other accolades does a player need? He went to Tampa Bay and should have been a great quarterback there. They just didn’t know how to use him either.

He was a first-round draft pick for the Buccaneers in 2015 and that’s where he could have made a name for himself. He was awarded Rookie of the Year and that seemed like a good start for a rising star. We’re talking about a team that hadn’t seen a Super Bowl since 2003. That was until Tom Brady came from New England and took them in his first season to the big game in 2021 and won. An amazing accomplishment.

Of course, he did have the help of Rob Gronkowski. All he had to do was make one phone call to his former teammate and the game was on.

Where Was Jameis Winston?

The fact is that Jameis Winston wasn’t on that team at the time. He was with the Saints and they met Tom Brady that year. Winston was taken out of the game in week eight by Devin White with a horse-collar tackle, which turned out that his serious injury was a torn ACL that ended his season. The Buccaneers would go on to win Super Bowl LV, the first season Brady took helm of the team.

Winston has it in himself to do that kind of work. But the Saints never really gave him the time of day. They played him and took him out, then they played him and took him out. They favored other players over him and never really worked with the man

Now, they bring Derek Carr into the fold and push Winston out! Of course, Carr is worth every dime the Saints are paying for him. With an explosive offense that Carr, Taysom Hill, and Alvin Kamara provide and Jimmy Graham in tight end, it might seem like a team that can’t be beat.

But Jameis Winston is not a guy to lose! Just learn how to use him. No team has ever been able to do that, and now a new team is going to find out the hard way.

Where Is Jameis Winston Going?

The Cleveland Browns will now enjoy the chance of seeing what they can do with the Heisman Trophy winner. He’ll be leaving the NFC South for good and going to AFC North. That’s quite a switch but it is what it is and that’s football, baby. It’s just a business.

The Saints didn’t know what they had just like the Buffalo Bills don’t know what they have with Ty Johnson. These are extraordinary players the teams just can’t seem to embrace. We’ll see what Winston can do in Cleveland as soon as he puts a football in his hands.

In the meantime, the Saints have some work to do and it’s not a lot of work. There is a strong team there to work with that can accomplish anything. They just need to realize the talent they have and quit losing good players. Jameis Winston would have knocked it out of the park if he had only been given the chance.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: