The Tampa Bay Buccaneers originally selected New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston with the No. 1 overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Florida State. After five years together in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers let Winston walk as a free agent this offseason en route to signing future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady away from the heralded New England Patriots.

With a reunion with the Buccaneers almost immediately out of the question for Winston, the veteran signal-caller ultimately elected to take a backup role with the enemy while notably signing with the division rival Saints.

Even though Winston will serve as the team's primary backup to another future Hall of Famer in Drew Brees in 2020, the longtime Buccaneers quarterback understands how rare it is to find himself on the other side of this heated NFC South rivalry.

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Javon Foster, Dominick Puni, Brenden Rice in the middle, Derek Carr and GM Mickey Loomis around them, and New Orleans Saints wallpaper in the background

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Derek Carr on one side with a speech bubble that says "Let's fight!", Maxx Crosby on the other side, a bunch of laughing emojis in the background

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Randy Gregory as a silhouette. Todd Bowles

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“I'm just so blessed that I get a chance to be part of a locker room like this,” Winston recently told Katherine Terrell of The Athletic. “Yeah, I know I was the enemy of the past five years, but those guys really took me in and I got a chance to gain a lot of great friends.”

The Buccaneers and Saints are far and away considered to be the best teams in the NFC South division with the upcoming 2020 regular season now looming large. Although the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are expected to compete at a high level, it appears as though Brady and Brees will be fighting for divisional supremacy in the end.