To no one's surprise, Jameis Winston is headed toward free agency, according to Rick Stroud of The Tampa Bay Times. More than likely, Winston's five-year run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is coming to a close, as it has long been rumored that the Buccaneers want to move on from Winston, and given the club's interest in Tom Brady and other quarterbacks, it's looking more and more like Winston is an afterthought in Tampa Bay.
Winston, who played his collegiate football at Florida State, was originally selected by the Bucs with the first overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft.
The 26-year-old showed some promise during his rookie campaign, throwing for 4,042 yards, 22 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 58.3 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 84.2, en route to a Pro Bowl appearance.
The following season, Winston displayed slight improvement, finishing with 4,090 yards, 28 touchdowns and 18 picks while completing 60.8 percent of his throws and registering a passer rating of 86.1.
Article Continues BelowSince then, however, it has been rough sailing for the Bessemer, Al. native.
Injuries and poor performance limited Winston in 2017 and 2018, resulting in him being benched at one point. Then, Winston went on to have one of the stranger campaigns you will see this past year, as he led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards and threw 33 touchdown passes, but also tossed 30 interceptions, making him the first player in league history to accumulate 30 touchdowns and 30 picks in the same season.
With Winston demonstrating little to no progression since his first couple of seasons, you can understand why the Buccaneers may want to move in a different direction.