Saints desire to bring back Jameis Winston will be tested by scorching-hot QB market

There is a big-time market for quarterbacks this offseason, and New Orleans Saints’ Jameis Winston may be a top target for teams.

When Matthew Stafford was traded, it was later revealed that many teams were in the market for former Lions quarterback. That should signal to the Saints that the market for Jameis Winston could be extremely hot this offseason.

From the Panthers to the Bears to the Colts, everyone wanted in on Stafford as many think that he could be among the best quarterbacks in the league with the right offense and schemes behind him.

While there haven’t been many reports surfacing that type of widespread interest in Winston, it should come. The Colts and the Bears have been rumored to be interested in Winston, and the Saints may already be in a tough situation given their financial limitations.

Winston is set to be a free agent after signing to be Drew Brees‘ backup last offseason. However, as it turned out, Winston was Taysom Hill‘s backup as the versatile quarterback started when Brees was sidelined for four weeks.

Winston had a handful of snaps in the regular season and then made his biggest throw of the season in the Divisional Round against the Buccaneers. It was arguably the biggest throw made by any Saints’ quarterback in 2020.

Winston threw a 56-yard bomb, showing both his arm strength and accuracy. The former No. 1 overall pick had issues, but after a year, there’s no telling if those same turnover problems are still there.

Winston didn’t have a turnover in his 12 pass attempts after having 30 in a league-high 626 attempts in 2019. That said, he also led the league in passing yards. He has the big-play ability, and teams know that he can at least make an offense capable as he did in Tampa Bay.

He’s better than Jacoby Brissett or anyone that Patriots or Bears have. For that reason, the market for him should be hot, and with Drew Brees potentially retiring but having yet to officially call it a career, Winston could also be heavily targeted by the Saints.

Teams are going to be coming in strong for the 27-year-old, and the cap-strapped Saints may not be able to keep pace.