It has been about a month since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shockingly landed future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady in free agency. That move ended Jameis Winston’s five-year run with the Bucs after they made him the No. 1 overall pick back in 2015.
Now that the free-agent market has pretty much died down leading up to next week’s draft, Winston remains unsigned. He’s highly unlikely to earn a starting job with another team.
We now have some more information relating to Winston’s market courtesy of an unnamed NFL scout. The lack of interest in his services isn’t simply about turnover issues.
“Winston is hindered by his turnovers and previous transgressions. If you were worried about his mistakes and character during his pre-draft evaluation, you have enough evidence to move on from him at the moment,” the unnamed scout told NFL Media’s Bucky Brooks. “He’s a talented player but those mistakes still hang over his head and make it hard for some teams to pull the trigger.”
While this has not been talked about thus far during free agency, it seems to make a lot of sense.
Winston faced sexual assault allegations during his time with Florida State. He was also accused of stealing crab legs from a local grocery store. Despite all of this, Winston still went No. 1 overall to the Bucs after a tremendous career with the Seminoles.
Now 26 years old, there seems to be renewed concerns over Winston’s lack of maturity. That has possibly played a role in the lack of interest in his services.
Winston is coming off a 2019 campaign that saw him lead the NFL with north of 5,000 passing yards. He also threw 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in a mistake-filled performance.