Buccaneers Jameis Winston: All signs point to his departure, except one

After that game Arians seemed a little shell shocked. I believe it was the beginning of the end of his faith in Jameis Winston. After that game, the always quick to Winston’s defense Arians stopped making excuses for him. He just spouted out a bunch of we will look at the tape, and see. The Defense of Jameis Winston was over. As the season pressed on, he seemed more and more disgusted and impatient with Winston’s mistakes.

Near the end of the season, Arians gave some interesting answers to questions about Jameis Winston and the quarterback position in general. A reporter asked Arians if the Bucs are going to bring back Shaquil Barrett. Arians replies with confidence and no hesitation.

A week later a reporter asked Arians if the Bucs were bringing back Jameis Winston. Arians replies that decisions like that are not made until after the season when Licht, ownership and himself will sit down and discuss it. That easily seems to translate to, We just don’t know what we are going to do with him, it’s difficult!!

Then came another question. Did Arians think that another quarterback could be successful in the offense? Arians replied in a way that did not fix the growing divide between the Buccaneers and Winston. None of the above is exactly an endorsement of Winston coming back.

Next you have the whole Philip Rivers connection. Rivers knew early on that he was done in Los Angelas so he picked up his family and he moved to Florida. Here’s the thing though; Rivers is from Alabama and eventually will be moving back to that which is his true home.

So what does it mean that he has moved to the Sunshine State when he has admitted wanting to play another year, two tops? They don’t need a quarterback in Jacksonville, they just gave Foles a big contract to back up Minshew as it has turned out. The Dolphins have Rosen and Fitzpatrick and are expected to take a quarterback in the draft.

That only leaves one team and the Bucs are that team. The Bucs could potentially take a quarterback in the draft. That gives Rivers his two years to mentor the rookie before he takes over in the third year.

Letting Winston go and signing Rivers would also leave more money to sign the team’s free agents. While also still giving the Bucs an excellent shot at making the playoffs with a true Hall of Famer at the helm. It is also entirely possible that none of the above could happen. Only time will tell.

It appears on several fronts that the Bucs will say goodbye to Winston. What a barrel of monkeys this has become. We will know what’s going on in very early March. I’m sure both sides will be crossing their fingers for their wanted outcomes. It’s just around the corner, we’ll be there before you know it.