All the talk right now is on Matthew Stafford and Deshaun Watson. Everybody views those two as the best quarterbacks who were/are/will be available this offseason. Now with Stafford moving on to Los Angeles, the focus will shift to Watson. The Chicago Bears are one of many, many teams with interest in the 25-year old star. That makes their odds of landing him remote. So they need to have contingency plans in place.
That includes scouring the cheaper veteran market for possible hidden gems. One name that seems to have their attention is none other than Jameis Winston. According to Evan Massey of the NFL Analysis Network, the Bears along with Indianapolis are keeping tabs on the former #1 overall pick who spent the past year as a backup to Drew Brees in New Orleans.
Winston is 27-years old and will be a free agent.
Along with the #Colts, the Chicago #Bears are another team with interest in Jameis Winston. #Saints also would like to keep him. He will have a market this offseason.
— Evan Massey (@massey_evan) January 31, 2021
Obviously, this is going to elicit groans from a lot of fans. Nobody would consider him the ideal option for a team trying to upgrade at quarterback. Winston had one of the craziest seasons in NFL history in 2019. He threw for 5,109 yards and 33 touchdowns. There was just one problem. He also threw 30 interceptions. For his career, Winston has thrown 88 interceptions in 76 career games.
In other words, he doesn’t protect the football. This is the primary reason why the guy failed to find a starting job in 2020. The hope in this scenario is spending a year under Sean Payton in New Orleans has helped him learn how to play the position with more efficiency. He would be a major gamble and likely a last resort.
Chicago Bears will only turn to Winston if they completely strikeout
He feels like a doomsday scenario. Somebody the team goes after if they fail to secure a notable veteran or even a high draft choice. At that point, they’d have to take a roll of the dice and bank on the possibility Winston can put together a season similar to 2019 but with fewer mind-boggling turnovers. If nothing else, he wouldn’t be expensive. Signing him would enable the team to focus their draft on building up the rest of the offense around him and reloading the defense too.
It’s a plan. Not the best one but at least one that could work. The big question is whether Winston even wants to leave. New Orleans has a pretty good setup. Multiple weapons and a great offensive line. One of the best offensive coaches in the game. It certainly doesn’t seem like he’d be inclined to join the Chicago Bears. Not unless the Saints don’t view him as their likely starter.
They have proven to be unpredictable like that.
If Watson becomes a reality for the Bears, don’t expect it to be any sort of long-term deal. It’ll be a one-year venture the quarterback aiming to cash in big with a productive season. All one can say is the defense better get their conditioning up to snuff because they may be on the field quite often.