Jameis Winston has major reason to smile even if he's not going to be QB1 with Browns

The Cleveland Browns signed former New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston to a one-year deal to back up Deshaun Watson on Tuesday.

While Winston won't be starting for the Browns, he's got a major reason to smile, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network:

“When Jameis Winston's one-year deal is finalized to become the Browns‘ backup QB, it's expected to include a base value of $4 million guaranteed with upside. The third NFL stop for Winston, who has 80 career starts and now slots in as Deshaun Watson’s backup in Cleveland.”

$4 million guaranteed is a solid number for a backup quarterback, especially one that only threw for just 264 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions last season.

Winston's deal with the Browns is worth up to $8.7 million with incentives. These likely only will kick in if Winston needs to step up in the event that Watson is injured again or has a setback that delays his return from offseason shoulder surgery. In the event of that admittedly terrible scenario, Cleveland will be glad that they paid for an upper tier backup.

The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Winston spent the first five seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the starter before going to New Orleans. With the Saints, he played in just 21 games across four seasons and was recently the backup to Derek Carr after he came over via trade last offseason.

Now the former top overall draft pick joins Watson and the Browns, who also acquired Jerry Jeudy in a trade with the Denver Broncos.