During the latter stages of the 2020 NFL Draft, there were rumblings that the Saints were working on a deal with unrestricted free agent Jameis Winston. Assistant general manager Jeff Ireland all but confirmed the rumors in an interview with Matt Mosley on Monday, via Pro Football Talk.

“It’s a compliment to Jameis Winston to understand where he’s at in this world and sign a one-year deal here, and learn behind [Drew Brees].”

Winston performed with mixed results during his five-year run with the Buccaneers. In his last season, Winston had career bests in total passing yards (5,109), average passing yards per game (319.3), and passing touchdowns (33).

On the flip side though, Winston has struggled with his command of the football, giving up 30 interceptions (career-worst) while posting a passer rating of 84.3 (second-worst).

Ireland hopes that the change of scenery, and having Brees as a mentor, will be beneficial for a Winston turnaround.

“[Brees] is an incredible leader, he’s an incredible studier of the game how he breaks down his opponents. [Then you have] Sean Payton on the offensive side of the ball, those creative minds, Jameis Winston will learn more football in a year than he has in his lifetime.”

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JC Latham (Alabama), Chris Braswell (Alabama not Jaguars), Cornelieus Johnson (Michigan) in action behind a New Orleans Saints logo with a 2024 NFL Draft background.

Dylan Bruton ·

The would-be “economical” signing provides some financial flexibility as the Saints have just over $5M in salary cap space. 

Additionally, it gives New Orleans choices under center to back up Brees. Just recently, the club has re-signed utility man Taysom Hill for around $21M through 2021.

The short-term moves should be enough to bolster what is reported to be Brees’ final season.