Buccaneers make smart decision by bringing Jameis Winston back for 2020

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made a smart decision in opting to bring back franchise quarterback Jameis Winston for the upcoming 2020 NFL season.

Entering this season, it was completely up in the air if Jameis Winston would get a second contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team drafted him No. 1 overall out of Florida State in the 2015 NFL Draft. While Winston was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2015, his inconsistencies on and off the field were major concerns entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2020.

After 14 games of this campaign, the Buccaneers have seen enough and have decided to bring back Winston for a sixth year in Tampa, either on the franchise tag or the transition tag. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported this on Saturday morning ahead of the Buccaneers’ Week 16 home game vs. the Houston Texans. But was it the right decision for Tampa Bay to make?

This was the right move for the Buccaneers for so many reasons. In the second half of the 2019 NFL season, Winston has played some of his best football as a professional. Sure, he still turns the ball over at will, but he is otherwise flourishing in head coach Bruce Arians’ offense. Tampa Bay is a sneaky-good 7-7 on the year and Winston is a big reason for that.

We have to respect the Buccaneers organization for sticking with Winston all season to ensure that he will be their franchise quarterback going forward. Winston is throwing for over 400 yards in just about every game. He’s playing akin to what Arians has previously had at the quarterback position with star signal-callers such as Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck and Carson Palmer.

It is also wise that Tampa Bay is looking at using either the franchise tag or the transition tag on Winston. He’s played well enough as a fifth-year pro to be given a pay bump for 2020. The question remains who’s getting what tag in Tampa? Outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett is set to be a free agent too and will garner major interest on the market as the NFL’s sack leader.

The transition tag projects to be $2 million less than what the franchise tag is for both players. Regardless of how the Buccaneers front office opts to use both tags on their stars, it’ll end up spending roughly $41 million to keep both. However, the franchise tag is a tad more permanent than the transition tag. The question is who is more likely to get overpaid on the market.

What this comes down to is if the Buccaneers believe Winston would command more than $25 million on the open market. If so, then they’ll have to use the franchise tag and hope somebody doesn’t pay more than $14 million for Barrett. If not, then Tampa Bay can use the franchise tag on Barrett for $16 million and pay Winston a cool $25 million, instead of $27 million.

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Overall, these are good problems to have for the Buccaneers. While they aren’t contending for a playoff berth yet again this year, the Buccaneers have been the second-best team in the NFC South this season. With the way Barrett, Winston and the entire team are trending under Arians, maybe 2020 is the year that Tampa Bay qualifies for the NFC playoffs for the first time since 2007?