Where will free agent quarterback and former number one overall pick Jameis Winston land in 2022 NFL Free Agency? We look at five options.
Jameis Winston may be coming off of an ACL injury, but he might be the best quarterback in the 2022 NFL free agent class. The supply and demand at the quarterback position in the 2022 offseason is not exactly where you would want it to be if you’re a team in need at the position.
Players like Jimmy Garoppolo and Carson Wentz may be the best and most realistic options available via trade, and the 2022 NFL Draft class may not have a single consensus first-round player at the position for the first time since anyone can remember.
Nobody stands to benefit more from that than Jameis Winston, and perhaps other guys like Mitchell Trubisky and Marcus Mariota.
Jameis Winston could have a robust free agent market in 2022
So where is Jameis Winston going to land in 2022 free agency? We’d be silly not to start with the perceived favorites.
Jameis Winston landing spot no. 1: New Orleans Saints
It would be foolish not to mention the New Orleans Saints as potentially the most likely destination for Jameis Winston in 2022 free agency, provided they can find a way to get under the salary cap and afford him in the first place.
Winston was in the same boat as some of his peers in free agency back in 2020. He was fresh off of a 30-interception season, in need of a change of scenery, and he got into a pretty great situation.
The Saints effectively gave Winston a redshirt in 2020, which was surprising because Drew Brees missed pretty significant time that year.
Even though Winston didn’t play in 2020, he was the clear favorite to win the starting job in New Orleans in 2021 and that’s what happened.
Winston had 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions in his first 161 pass attempts of the 2021 season, good for an 8.7 touchdown percentage which, if extrapolated to an entire season, would have projected him somewhere around 50-plus touchdown passes.
It’s not certain that Winston could have kept that pace, but it was good enough to warrant another look with the Saints.
The big question mark now — is Winston’s biggest advocate (Sean Payton) out the door? Could he get better money elsewhere, even coming off of injury?
Those two factors could both wind up being huge.
Jameis Winston destination no. 2: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are not going to leave any stone unturned as they look to replace Big Ben Roethlisberger in the 2022 offseason.
The Steelers make as much sense as anybody as it relates to available quarterbacks in the 2022 offseason because they have arguably the best situation to present to any prospective candidates.
The Steelers have an outstanding head coach in Mike Tomlin, maybe the best head coach in the NFL right now in general.
They have some phenomenal offensive weapons in Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, Najee Harris, and Pat Freiermuth.
They have a big-time defense led by Defensive Player of the Year TJ Watt.
The pieces are in place and the structure is in place for someone like Jameis Winston to move in and really have a lot of success, especially if he can stay on the trajectory he was on at the start of the 2021 season.
Winston could thrive in Pittsburgh with the weapons around him.
Jameis Winston destination no. 3: Denver Broncos
One team to keep an eye on — like the Pittsburgh Steelers — with just about every quarterback is going to be the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos are led by general manager George Paton and his new head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett comes to Denver from Green Bay where he has been part of a coaching staff that has helped Aaron Rodgers to some of the most successful years of his career.
Of course, it’s important to remember that Rodgers is not necessarily the one benefitting from his coaches as much as his coaches are benefitting from being around him, but Hackett has evolved while working for Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, no question about it.
John Elway is not making decisions in Denver anymore, a fact that seems to be lost on many fans and even analysts of the NFL.
George Paton comes from Minnesota where he and Rick Spielman did not shy away from big-time quarterback moves including trading for Brett Favre once upon a time as well as signing Kirk Cousins in 2018.
Paton has vowed to be aggressive in upgrading the QB position, but does Jameis Winston fit with this offense?
He just might.
The Broncos have hired two former Buccaneers coaches who didn’t work directly with Winston, but could certainly vouch for him one way or the other.
Offensive line coach Butch Barry and assistant offensive line coach Ben Steele were with the Buccaneers during the early years of Winston’s NFL career and are now on the Broncos’ staff.
Just like with the Steelers, Winston would be stepping into a great situation in Denver with a lot of weapons to spread the ball to, a big-time running back in Javonte Williams, and a defense that ranked in the top five last year.
Jameis Winston landing spot no. 4: Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts apparently really don’t want to move forward with Carson Wentz.
The Colts will likely cut or trade Wentz in the near future, which would open them up to this rather dry quarterback market.
Maybe the Colts already have a Plan A in mind and it doesn’t include Jameis Winston, or maybe a player like Jameis Winston is exactly what Frank Reich is looking for.
That might seem hard to believe, but Winston’s improved decision-making last season might have piqued the curiosity of coaches and executives that wouldn’t otherwise have been intrigued.
The Colts took a shot on Carson Wentz for a first-round pick and then some after he led the NFL in interceptions.
Jameis Winston has not exactly been a model of ball security in his football career but last season in New Orleans, he was doing a lot better in that area than we have become accustomed to.
Are the Colts looking for a contrasting playing style to Carson Wentz? Are they looking for different leadership traits?
Winston seems like the type of guy who has had a lot of hard growth through the years due to immaturity, which we saw plenty of dating back to his time at Florida State.
How much has he matured since his Buccaneers days? How is he leading an entire team?
That is the kind of thing that might matter to the Colts more than anything.
Jameis Winston landing spot no. 5: Houston Texans
Lovie Smith just recently became an NFL head coach again for the first time since the 2015 season.
The last time Smith was a head coach in the NFL was back in the 2015 season as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of course, as the head coach at the time, how big of a role Smith played in drafting Jameis Winston first overall is certainly a noteworthy detail here, potentially.
The Houston Texans are entering a very intriguing 2022 offseason.
Will they be able to trade Deshaun Watson finally?
Is the team sold on Davis Mills as the guy in 2022?
Will Tyrod Taylor be brought back?
With Pep Hamilton in place as the offensive coordinator, it seems like all good news for Mills in terms of keeping his job for the 2022 season, at least.
Bringing in a player like Winston would certainly ignite competition at the position and put Mills’ starting job in jeopardy, but it could be exactly the type of move Houston needs to make if they want to get the best out of their top pick from the 2021 NFL Draft.
Adding Winston could give Houston multiple “best case scenario” types of situations.
On one hand, the competition from Winston could bring out the best in Mills. On the other hand, Winston could continue progressing from what we saw in 2021 and he could wind up being a long-term starter for a team that has had its future stripped away.