Sean Payton Sees Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill Competing in 2021

Without Drew Brees in the picture, we now get to watch Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill battle it out for the starting quarterback of the Saints.

If you've followed the trail of breadcrumbs Sean Payton has been leaving for months, then you shouldn't be surprised by Jameis Winston being re-signed. It's something that first presented itself back in December, which continued through January through various outlets and kept going through March. Of course, other options presented themselves that made it interesting for the Saints to look at, but none of those seemed that realistic.

We were all waiting for the Drew Brees domino to fall, and it was something Payton knew, and why wouldn't he after 15 years of being together? In his interview on The Dan Patrick Show Monday, Payton revealed that Brees felt that he was strongly considering it a year ago and that "it was almost understood" that 2020 was his last season. So, with everything playing out the way it did with Brees announcing his retirement on the 15-year anniversary of him signing wasn't a coincidence.

Now, life for the Saints revolves around Winston and Taysom Hill, and the competition we were expecting last offseason during training camp and the preseason that never happened because of COVID-19 is now a reality. It'll be the first time we see a quarterback competition in forever.

"There's a few things that may still be out there, but I see those two (Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill) competing for the position," Payton said.

"There's a few things that may still be out there, but I see those two [Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill] competing for the position." -Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) if the #Saints are set at the QB position. pic.twitter.com/SNpPtufZWV

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) March 16, 2021

New Orleans brought Winston back on a very friendly deal, while Hill restructured his contract to help alleviate some of his cap hit for the new season. That in itself is something, as we really do get to see what the future could be like for the Saints without necessarily being committed to it past 2021. Whoever wins out, it's truly going to be an exciting season that eager eyes will be tuning into.