Looking Forward
With the 2019 season officially in the rear-view, Arians took time to address quarterback, Jameis Winston, and the state of the Buccaneers heading into 2020 during press conferences. The two-time AP Coach of the Year didn’t mince words about the fifth-year signal caller, adding that “It smells as bad as it could possibly smell and it’ll smell that way for a long time” (via Buccaneers) when talking about Winston’s pick-six to end the season.
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It would be the 30th interception for Jameis on the season, which put him in a strange category of his own for NFL quarterbacks. He became the first ever to throw 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season. Talk about a roller coaster season. In order ranked from highest priority to lowest priority, here are the top five offseason priorities for the Buccaneers in 2020.
1. Decide on Jameis Winston’s future ASAP
To get the most obvious elephant out of the room, the biggest question in Tampa Bay for 2020 is the pending future of starting quarterback Jameis Winston. The 25 year old out of Florida State has shattered records all season. For good and for bad. In what will surely be remembered as one of the most odd season performances from an NFL quarterback, Winston finished the year with 5,109 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
Games this year have been won and lost single-handedly at the hands of Jameis and there’s where the dilemma lies. Is a 5,000 yard quarterback still worth 30 million/year if he can’t consistently win? This will be a closely watched situation in the coming weeks, but the one thing the Buccaneer’s organization can avoid is the prolonged debacle of the Gerald McCoy situation of last offseason.