4 players the Saints will be thrilled to have back on the field in 2022

2. Jameis Winston

NOLA had Jameis Winston as their starting quarterback for the first seven games of the 2021 season before he was injured in Week 8 and missed the rest of the year. It was a terrible break for both sides, as Winston was finally proving that he could hold onto the football and the Saints were sitting at 5-2 and on pace with the Buccaneers in the division.

Winston re-signed with the Saints this offseason and he’ll be with the organization for two years now, as opposed to one. New Orleans can now focus on putting talent around Winston in the draft rather than finding a quarterback and can postpone the quarterback search for at least another year.

Maybe Winston isn’t a top 15 quarterback but he’s familiar with the offense that Pete Carmichael runs and hopefully, the team actually does its part in surrounding him with talent on offense. If they can do that, then this move will look really smart down the road.

Not having Winston in the second half of the 2021 season derailed the Saints’ playoff hopes but if he can stay healthy this year, there’s no reason having him back won’t be a positive for this team.