With their season closing without a trip to the playoffs for the 12th straight year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to add a quarterback who knows how to win.
It was a fitting end to the 2019 season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. The Buccaneers ended up falling to the Falcons in overtime thanks to Jameis Winston‘s 30th interception of the year being returned for a touchdown.
That’s right, Winston’s game-sealing pick on Sunday gave him a final total of 30 interceptions and 30 touchdowns for 2019. No other quarterback had ever thrown at least 30 scores and 30 picks in a single season until the Tampa Bay signal-caller etched his name in the history books against Atlanta.
Despite his inability to not throw the ball to the other team, the Bucs are reportedly looking to bring Winston back in 2020 to be their starting quarterback, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.
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It’s a bit of a head-scratcher as to why Tampa Bay would bring back a guy who hasn’t led the team to any sort of success since they drafted him in 2015. But the Bucs are a franchise known for making bad decisions and this would just be the latest of many terrible choices.
Instead of paying Winston way too much money to likely miss out on the playoffs again in 2020, however, Tampa Bay should bring in a different young quarterback who has actually led a team to the postseason. That guy is current New Orleans Saints backup signal-caller, Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater’s current contract with the Saints is set to void at the end of the season, making him a free agent in 2020 just like Winston. Choosing to let Winston go elsewhere and bring in Bridgewater as his replacement should be an incredibly easy decision for the Bucs to make during the upcoming offseason.
While Bridgewater may not have the flashy stats or high passing numbers every week, he just knows how to win games. He’s proven this in the past during his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings and he proved in again this season when he filled in for an injured Drew Brees and led New Orleans to victories in each of his five starts under center.
Bridgewater is still only 27 years old, so he still has plenty of time to become a franchise quarterback for an NFL team. If Tampa Bay is smart, they will attempt to entice him to return to his home state of Florida and join their roster.
The fact that the Bucs were still able to win seven games this season with Winston turning the ball over as much as he did should tell people that the team is full of talent.
If Tampa Bay is able to add a quarterback like Bridgewater or someone else who won’t be a walking turnover factory during the upcoming offseason, then they might actually have a legitimate shot at making a return to the playoffs in 2020.