Jameis Winston Says He's One Of The Best Quarterbacks, But His Stats, Contract Say Otherwise

It’s been a frustrating offseason for Jameis Winston. After being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting quarterback for the first five years of his career, Winston joined the New Orleans Saints to back up Drew Brees.

Tampa Bay paid Winston $20.9 million in the 2019 season. The 26-year-old inked a one-year contract with New Orleans that only pays him $1.1 million without incentives.

The former Heisman Trophy winner and No.1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft believes he’s a much better player than what his offseason suggests.

“I know what I'm worth,” Winston recently told Bleacher Report. “And I know day in and day out, without publicly coming in and saying it, that historically I'm one of the best quarterbacks to play the game.”

That’s certainly a bold statement following the year that Winston had in Tampa Bay.

Yes, Winston did have a historic season, but not in a positive way. He became the first quarterback since 1988 to throw 30 interceptions, doing so at a time when the rules cater to quarterbacks like never before. Baker Mayfield threw the second-most interceptions, and he still had nine fewer picks than Winston.

Winston set a record with seven pick-sixes. Constantly giving away touchdowns or exceptional field position to Tampa Bay’s opponents, Winston prevented the Bucs’ high-powered offense from leading the team to the playoffs. The Bucs ranked third in total offense and 15th in total defense. Tampa Bay gave up more points than 28 teams and had a 7-9 record.

An 84.3 passer rating put Winston 27th among starting quarterbacks.

Despite all of his turnovers, Winston did put up some of the best stats in the NFL. He was the passing leader with 5,109 yards, marking the eighth-highest single-season total in history. Winston ranked second with 33 passing touchdowns. His 8.2 yards per attempt were sixth in the league.

Overall, Winston was probably an average quarterback last year, leading a dynamic offense while shooting himself in the foot over and over. He was better than the likes of Mayfield and Mitchell Trubisky, who were among the most disappointing signal callers. Winston wasn’t as good as divisional rival Matt Ryan or Tom Brady, who replaced him as the Buccaneers quarterback in free agency.

Winston has never been much better than an average quarterback for an extended period of time during his career. His only Pro Bowl appearance came in 2015 when he didn’t have a particularly impressive year. Winston has a career 86.9 passer rating, never posting a rating north of 92.2 in a single season.

Winston has a 28-42 career record with no postseason appearances.