Jameis Winston may have literally repaired his eyesight in the wake of a 30-interception season, but that doesn't mean the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are any closer to committing to him as their quarterback for 2020. Asked Thursday if he feels the Bucs are nearing clarity at quarterback with free agency about a month away, coach Bruce Arians told ESPN's Jenna Laine that Tampa won't make a decision on Winston, the team's former No. 1 overall draft pick, until he has a chance to consider other available quarterbacks this offseason.
"No, because you don't know who's available," Arians said. "You're just sitting and waiting to see, is there someone available? And is he a better option? That's the problem. You get about three days to decide -- the legal tampering (period). Is somebody else going to get let go? What's the trade values? It's really monotonous right now because you don't really have any answers."
The reality, of course, is that if the Bucs truly believed in Winston as their franchise QB, there would be no conversation about other QBs in the first place. It's not as if Winston himself is holding out from a Bucs offer, either. Previous reports indicated the two sides had engaged in "no conversations, no negotiations, no discussions of any kind" even late in the 2019 season, and Arians has gone on record saying his team will be fine with or without Winston under center.
At the end of the day, Arians is probably telling the truth. He's admitted before he saw a lot of both good and bad from Winston in 2019 when the five-year veteran eclipsed 5,000 passing yards but was a turnover machine, and until Tampa has a look at the free agent class at quarterback, it's hard to say one way or another whether Winston will be back. Tom Brady, Philip Rivers and Dak Prescott are just a few of countless big names currently set to hit the open market in what could be an unprecedented pool of available QBs.
