If released by the Saints, should the Rams bring in Jameis Winston?

The 29-year old quarterback would be a great back-up for Stafford

This week, the New Orleans Saints agreed to terms with former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, inking the veteran signal-caller to a four-year deal worth up to $150 million. The Raiders’ franchise-leading passer will become the Saints starting QB for the foreseeable future, leaving former number one overall selection Jameis Winston in limbo following just three seasons with the team.

Winston, following the Saints signing of Carr, is more than likely to be released and become an unrestricted free agent before the start of the 2023 NFL season. The market for Winston will certainly be interesting, however, it is likely that he will have to accept a backup role considering the quarterback situations around the league.

Now, Winston is just 29 years of age, and has all of the tools to be a successful quarterback. Following signing with the Saints in 2020, Winston was set to become the replacement for future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. Winston became the starter for New Orleans in 2021, and was well on his way to a career-best season prior to suffering a torn ACL in week 8 of that year, ending his season.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Then, in 2022, Winston would get off to an up and down start to the season before suffering a back injury in week 3, which led to Winston losing his spot to Andy Dalton for the rest of the season.

Last season for the Rams was an incredibly rocky one, mainly due to a bevy of injuries to key positions all over the field, and quarterback was no exception. Matthew Stafford battled concussions along with other bumps and bruises that forced him to miss a handful of games, as the Rams had to turn to John Wolford and Bryce Perkins as their QBs through some key games in the season.

In fact, the Rams only wins without Stafford came after the team brought in Baker Mayfield at the tail end of the season, giving the team a 2-7 record with QBs not named Matthew Stafford and basically ending their postseason hopes midway through the season.

With a quarterback getting up there in age, it became clear that the Rams needed to invest in a better back-up quarterback moving forward, as the team looked much more competitive once Mayfield came in and gave the team a more experienced back-up option under center.

Insert Jameis Winston, a 29-year old 6’4” QB who has superior arm strength and has shown flashes of being a really solid quarterback in the NFL. Now, it is not to say that Baker Mayfield did not show enough for the Rams to try and bring him back, it is just that Jameis has more tools similar to that of Matthew Stafford and would minimize the limitations of the playbook if he was needed at any point during the year.

In my opinion, the Rams should be salivating at the opportunity of bringing in Jameis Winston as the back-up, and I would even go as far as to say that I would rather have Winston that Mayfield as the team’s back-up quarterback next season.

What do you folks think, should the Rams try and bring in Jameis Winston if he is released by the Saints?