Marcus Spears and Mina Kimes discuss the Saints decision to re-sign Jameis Winston. (1:31) Two weeks ago, Jameis Winston made sense for the New Orleans Saints. He makes New Orleans a legitimate playoff contender. The Saints went too far in their efforts to tie the franchise's present to the fact that they thought quarterback Deshaun Watson would be a major upgrade. The Saints have always insisted that they hold Winston in high regard. The Saints made free-agent signings.
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Both things can be true, which the Saints demonstrated by making a real commitment to Jameis with a two-year, $28 million contract that includes $21 million guaranteed.
That is not just a deal. The Saints might still draft a quarterback in the next year or two because they realize how important that position is to their long-term future. They don't have to pick a quarterback since they don't have to worry about the long-term solution.
The Saints are in win-now mode. They don't plan to rebuild under Dennis Allen despite their salary-cap limitations. They proved that by going after him. They proved it again Monday.
Although quarterbacks have been changing teams at a rapid pace in recent weeks, the best combination of upside and affordable price is offered by Jameis Winston.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick of the New Orleans Saints tore his knee in Week 8 last season. The Saints would have had an excellent chance to make the playoffs had he not been hurt.
They finished the season with a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs on a wild final week because of injuries and other issues.
In his first year as New Orleans starter, he averaged 186 passing yards in six complete games and completed just 59% of his passes. He proved that he could overcome the turnovers that derailed his career by throwing 14 touchdown passes. He had four completions of 49-plus yards. His passer rating was a career high.
He did all that with anemic pass catchers while All-Pro receiver Michael Thomas missed the entire season with an ankle injury.
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Thomas is expected to be healthy this year. If the Saints don't add more pass-catching help through free agency and the draft, it will be shocking.
The Saints will have to overcome some new holes, starting with Sean Payton's decision to step away from coaching. They lost free safety Marcus Williams to the Baltimore Ravens in free agency, replaced him with former New York Jets safety Marcus Maye. There is a good chance that they will lose Terron Armstead, who was the No. 1 ranked free agent.
The Saints still have one of the best defenses in the league and will still be working with the same offensive and quarterbacks coach.
They still have elite players such as Thomas, running back, Ryan Ramczyk, defensive end, Demario Davis, and defensive back, Marshon Lattimore. They have better luck with injuries than they did last season.
They now have more salary-cap space and draft capital to work with after paying a fraction of the price for Winston. They won't use the entire $30 million worth of cap space they carved out for a potentialWatson trade, but they should be able to pick their spots and add a couple of more value signings.
Even though Tom Brady decided to come back to the rival Buccaneers, all of those factors should add up to a realistic run at the NFC South title or a wild-card spot.
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