Nike won’t renew Jameis Winston’s contract

Jameis Winston will not represent Nike any longer as the company decided against renewing his contract.

According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell and Seth Wickersham, Nike has decided to not renew Jameis Winston’s contract with the company.

"Sources say Winston’s contract expired before the NFL announced Winston would be suspended for the first three games of the regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy"

The bad press surrounding Winston likely caused Nike to part ways. No incidents involving Winston have been reported since the Uber accusations back in 2016 but the company doesn’t want to be involved in any more incidents with the polarizing quarterback.

As the number one overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston was a big get at the time. He had superstar potential and could have made the company millions if he made the right decisions.

Sadly, he now has a bad reputation and Nike didn’t want to be associated with him. Now with major character concerns, he will have to prove to endorsers that he can represent their company in a positive light.

It will be interesting to see which apparel company takes a chance with Winston. Perhaps other major players like Under Armour and Adidas will wait to see how 2018 plays out. If he proves that he can handle himself off the field and manages to play well maybe another company could come knocking soon.

According to a 2015 Forbes article by Jesse Lawrence, Winston had plenty of endorsement deals leading up to the 2015 Draft. Nike is obviously the biggest player but he was partnered at the time with Upper Deck trading cards and his social media following was a great way for companies to promote their products.

There is still time for Winston to regain the trust of companies. However, to see Nike give up on him after just three seasons in the league shows that he is on his final strike.