The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a leap in the right direction on Tuesday by hiring former Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians.
Arians is considered one of the most-respected offensive minds in the NFL, dating back to his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The thought process here is that if struggling quarterback Jameis Winston can’t succeed under Arians, he’ll never be the type of signal caller Tampa expected when it selected him No. 1 overall back in 2015.
In talking about his new quarterback, Arians made it clear that the Buccaneers will be built around Winston moving forward.
As if there was any doubt, Bucs new head coach @BruceArians tells @RichEisenShow that Jameis Winston would be the starting quarterback and "this thing would be build around him."
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 9, 2019
This mirrors the sentiment of general manager Jason Licht, who made it clear that Winston will be the Bucs’ starting quarterback in 2019.
Winston, 25, is set to earn $20.92 million this coming season. He struggled throughout the 2018 campaign after being suspended to start the season — committing 18 turnovers in 11 games (nine starts).
Needless to say, Winston will have to up his performance in order to be considered the long-term answer in Tampa Bay. Arians’ vote of confidence doesn’t change this one iota.