It sure feels like the bridge between Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints is all but burnt, so it isn’t too surprising to see him listed as a possible salary cap cuts candidate. Things haven’t gone as planned when he re-signed with New Orleans a year ago, and with free agency on the horizon, it appears the team is going to go in another direction.
Here’s a take on Winston’s status with the Saints from Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger, who writes:
“Winston lost his job to Andy Dalton — which he was understandably not happy about — and the Saints hosted Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on a visit already as they look ahead to 2023. The writing is on the wall here for Winston, who had five interceptions and three fumbles (one lost) in just three starts in 2022.”
Winston didn’t get a fair shake with the Saints. He was allowed to play through a serious back injury and then asked to sit through an intercontinental flight, only to be benched for the rest of the season after clearing the injury report while Andy Dalton struggled to string scoring drives together in his stead. It falls on head coach Dennis Allen to manage situations like this better, and in this case he came up short.
And the team is going to pay for it by forfeiting as much as $11.2 million in dead money once Winston is released, though they’ll come out ahead with $4.4 million in savings. In an ideal world cutting Winston would not even be considered, but that’s not where we are. Between his erratic play and unfortunate series of recent injuries, the Saints are looking elsewhere to find a starting quarterback in 2023.