Before Jameis Winston signed a one-year contract with the New Orleans Saints, the Pittsburgh Steelers were rumored to have offered him a lucrative deal. On Wednesday morning, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert addressed that rumor.
Steelers never made Jameis Winston a contract offer
Prior to Winston signing with the Saints, Nick Sitro of Bucs Report shared that Winston was “offered a more lucrative deal by the Pittsburgh Steelers” before landing in New Orleans.
Speaking on the subject during an appearance with 93.7 The Fan Wednesday, Colbert squashed the rumor that the Steelers had an offer on the table for Winston: “I can honestly say that we absolutely made no negotiation or offer to a veteran quarterack,” Colbert said.
Steelers are confident in Big Ben
The Steelers are hoping Ben Roethlisberger can return fully healthy for the 2020 season. During the same radio interview, Colbert said he’s hoping that the year off may actually help Big Ben come back even better than he was before.
“Maybe the surgery will help him have even a stronger arm coming back. Those are the types of things that I look for, and all indications are that he’s on a solid course to be back full speed, which can only help us and help those other players get back to the level they were at in 2018.”
Pittsburgh is also confident that Mason Rudolph, who struggled big time in 2019, is going to be a solid backup: “We’re very comfortable with Mason where he was last year,” Colbert said. “As I’ve stated before he was five and three as a starter.”
With all that in mind, it’s not surprising to hear the general manager say Winston was never offered a contract by the Steelers.