Browns free agent QB Jameis Winston has been in the league for a decade, and players who end up playing that long usually are who they are. In Winston’s case, he’s a talented former No. 1 pick who can make his share of big plays — both for his team and the opposing defense.
Nothing sums it up more than the 2019 season when Winston led the NFL with over 5,000 passing yards and tossed 33 touchdowns, but also a league-leading 30 interceptions. He was the first and is still the only member of the NFL’s 30-30 club.
That penchant for turnovers has prevented him from landing a starting job since he left the Buccaneers, including stints with the Saints and the Browns. He was benched again for too many interceptions last year. So now, even though it’s tough for tenured NFL veterans to materially change their games, Winston is renewing his focus on cutting down on the turnovers.
“Honestly, the quarterbacks I’ve been watching this offseason have been Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson because I think they do a good job of limiting their own critical errors,” Winston said recently on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “Early on in both of their careers, you see the flashy. They show you they can make a play when it’s time to make a play.
“But sometimes they play games where you’re just like, ‘Man, they have took 18 consecutive checkdowns.’ And I think that’s the part of my game I have to really master. I know I can win a shootout. I know I can go out there and surgically dissect any defense that comes my way. But now the key to my game, to me actually elongating my career, is winning football games and protecting our team to the best ability I can.”
Winston will once again be a free agent and will be looking for a chance to catch on with a team that needs an established backup where he could have a chance at seeing the field.
Winston, 31, is a former first-overall pick of the Buccaneers back in 2015. He played out the 2019 season under the fifth-year option from his rookie contract and made a base salary of $20.922 million.
He signed with the Saints on a one-year, $1.1 million deal in 2020 and returned to New Orleans on another one-year contract worth up to $12 million in 2021 as the starter. He unfortunately tore his ACL after eight games.
The Saints re-signed him to a two-year deal with a maximum value of $28 million and reworked the deal in 2023. The Browns signed Winston to a one-year deal with a maximum value of $8.7 million last March.
In 2024, Winston appeared in 12 games for the Browns with seven starts, completing 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,121 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He added 25 rush attempts for 83 yards and another touchdown.
We have him included in our Top 100 2025 NFL Free Agents list.
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