Jameis Winston Believes He is Still a Starting Quarterback in the NFL

The former Seminole will have to battle Derek Carr for the starting quarterback spot in New Orleans.

Jameis Winston has had a rough three years as a quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. He has played a total of 14 games across the last three seasons and has horrible luck with injury. Of course, Winston was backing up Drew Brees in his first season with the Saints, where he would learn and be able to take another stab at progressing in his career.

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After successfully backing up Brees, Winston assumed the starting quarterback role following the legend's retirement, and he ran with it. The former Florida State star quarterback was incredible in his second season with the Saints, racking up 1,170 yards in seven games while accounting for 14 passing touchdowns. That was until it all came crashing down in a Week 8 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2015 - as Winston tore his ACL and MCL, ending his great season.

In 2022, Winston’s third season with the Saints, he played and started in three games for the squad before going down with another injury, this time a back vertebral fracture. Coming off a major injury, Winston was still getting back to his old self before dealing with more injuries, but this time the former Heisman lost his starting job as he continued getting healthy.

Despite the signing of Derek Carr, the expected Week 1 starter and the Saints' go-to quarterback, Winston re-worked his contract to stay for the next season. This isn’t a long-term career move, though, as Winston has aspirations to become a starter again and continue building his legacy.

In the meantime, Winston will work on becoming “holistically healthy” so he can return to his top form, where he will be able to search for a starting quarterback position in the league.

“The main thing is the opportunity, and I'm just grateful every chance I get an opportunity to step into a building and play a sport I love,” Winston said in a recent interview. “However, I know that I'm still a starting quarterback in this league. But, man, I have to be, like this is all a process.”

Winston mentioned that other Hall of Fame players have “made their break at 30 years old” and he believes he can follow the same trajectory.

"Everyone has different journeys in this league. But it's challenging to be an NFL quarterback. And when you have an opportunity to be a starting NFL quarterback, you want to make the most of it," Winston said. "I've just had some unfortunate injuries over the past three years, so this is where I'm at. But this is not what I visualize being in the near future.”

Adversity isn’t something new to Winston. Even during his Heisman and championship-winning career at Florida State, the quarterback dealt with adversity. His time in the league has been no different and Winston has solid ground in terms of working back towards a starting role in the NFL. If he can return anywhere close to the form that he gave the Saints pre-injury in 2021, he should be able to make his break.

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