Bruce Arians hinting at possible departure for Jameis Winston?

After an entire offseason and most of the season praising Jameis Winston, Bruce Arians gives a cryptic response to questions his future with the Buccaneers.

Jameis Winston is perhaps one of the most polarizing active players in the NFL. Half of the planet it seems believes that he is a top quarterback in the league and is simply missing the pieces around him to succeed while the other half of the planet believes that Jameis is simply a lower tier starter of backup caliber for the Buccaneers. In truth, both sides have reason to believe what they do even if they can’t see eye to eye on the subject.

The supporters of Jameis come from far and wide and all walks of life, and no one is a bigger fan of Jameis Winston that Bruce Arians. Or perhaps now it is more appropriate to say was instead of is. Last night on SiriusXM NFL radio when asked about Jameis’ future on the team Arians responded: “He’s been playing really well for a while… We’ll wait till it’s over and we’ll make a decision. Right now there’s a lot of good things on tape.”

For anyone who has listened to Bruce Arians speak on Jameis this season this comes as a bit of a curveball. Not that it wouldn’t surprise anyone that the team isn’t sprinting to throw tens of millions of dollars per season at a quarterback whose inconsistencies have cost the team more than one game, but more that Bruce Arians has been such a massive supporter of Jameis throughout the season.

The same coach who now has cold feet nearing the day of the wedding is the same coach who has openly praised and defended his quarterback at every turn. BA has shown time and time again that he will throw entire units of his team under the bus, players that will assuredly be on the team next year, just so that he can remove the blame from his quarterback who had yet another head-scratching turnover like throwing to a power back in the flats versus one of the best shutdown corners in the league.