Jameis Winston, who is serving as a digital correspondent for FOX Sports throughout the week of Super Bowl LIX, is set to be one of the better quarterbacks available in NFL free agency.
In fact, at Opening Night, Winston polled some Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles players on where he should play next. Some responded by saying he could join their respective team, while one offered an interesting option.
Roughly one-third of the league could potentially have a new starting quarterback next season, but only so few that do need one are positioned to get a quarterback of their choosing with their first-round draft pick. With that in mind, the 31-year-old Winston, a one-time Pro Bowler, offers teams a respectable short-term option.
Here are the five best free-agent fits for Winston.
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Bryce Young came on strong at the end of the 2024 regular season. At the same time, that respectable play came after coming in for an injured Andy Dalton, who became Carolina's starter when Young was benched after Week 2. So, Young could get benched again. At the bare minimum, Winston can push Young in the summer and give head coach Dave Canales, who could potentially be on the hot seat with another shaky season (the Panthers went 5-12 in his first season at the helm), a viable alternative should Young's play necessitate a change.
Now, Winston's play with the Cleveland Browns this season had its flaws, specifically him throwing 12 interceptions in as many games. On the other hand, he helped Cleveland get a pair of impressive victories over the NFC North-rival Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, and he has continually shown that he's unfazed by taking chances downfield. For an offense that was 30th in the NFL in passing last season (187.5 passing yards per game), Winston's mentality would bode well for the Panthers. That said, Carolina may prefer to bank on Young taking the next step and re-sign Dalton, sticking with those who best know Canales' offense.
The world is the Titans' oyster this offseason, as they have the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and nearly $45 million in cap space, per OverTheCap.com. Adding a compelling, veteran signal-caller like Winston makes sense for Tennessee regardless of how their offseason plays out.
For the sake of this exercise, let's say that the Titans signed Winston to the going rate for a backup quarterback/1B starter (e.g. a two-year, $19 million deal). Should it be enamored by Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Miami's Cam Ward — the consensus top two quarterback prospects in this year's draft — Tennessee could select one of the two quarterbacks, who then have to beat out Winston for the starting job. Should Winston struggle mightily, head coach Brian Callahan can make the switch. But if Winston plays well, perhaps Tennessee could flip him for a mid-round draft at the NFL trade deadline or ensuing offseason?
Another scenario is that Tennessee doesn't view Sanders or Ward as a franchise quarterback and instead takes a "generational talent," in the words of new general manager Mike Borgonzi. That player could be Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter or Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter. In the Titans' mind, they get the best prospect in the draft and continue to play it by ear at quarterback until a quarterback enters the draft that they think could become a star.
What could halt the enthusiasm for the Titans signing Winston, though, is the presence of Will Levis. The Titans could always give the 2023 second-rounder another shot at starting or have him backup whoever they take with the No. 1 pick.
It's simple: Tua Tagovailoa continues to suffer gruesome head injuries, and Miami's offense craters without him. Winston would be a strong pickup for the Dolphins. While Winston's turnovers and inconsistency over his 10-year career have plagued him, he's certainly capable of starting and holding down the fort for an extensive period. Furthermore, Winston has found success playing with great playmakers, doing so with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, among others, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and led the New Orleans Saints to a 5-2 start in 2021 before tearing his ACL. In Miami, he would potentially have Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on the outside and versatile running backs Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane to set him up for success.
Over the past three years, Tagovailoa's absence has been crippling for the Dolphins. In the four-game stretch that he missed early in the 2024 season, Miami went 1-3 and averaged just 10 points per game. The Dolphins were still in the playoff mix in Week 18 but lost to the then-4-12 New York Jets without Tagovailoa (hip) to close out the season. In the 2022 playoffs, the Dolphins lost on the road to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round by one score with third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson. With just slightly better quarterback play behind Tagovailoa, the Dolphins could've played deeper into January in the 2022 season and the one that just concluded.
Winston is an ideal target for the Dolphins, but there are a pair of other teams that could offer the veteran the possibility of starting the entire 2025 season.
One way or another, the Giants need to add one, if not two quarterbacks, this offseason. New York can pay Winston market value to be its Week 1 starter. With the Giants, Winston has a star receiver in Malik Nabers to target and some young pass-catchers, such as wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson and tight end Theo Johnson, who could be more impactful with better quarterback play. Winston gives the Giants a quarterback who's willing to take chances, whereas former quarterback Daniel Jones could be hesitant to take chances and Drew Lock struggled throughout the bulk of the five games that he started this season.
As for the draft, New York owns the third overall pick. Should a quarterback they deem worthy of selecting reach them, the Giants can take that player and have them sit behind Winston until head coach Brian Daboll feels it's time to make a change. If Sanders and/or Ward don't make it to No. 3, the Giants can take Hunter and either draft a quarterback in the second round, trade up into the back end of the first round for one or just take the best player on the board with each of their picks and put off adding a young quarterback for a year. They were 3-14 for a reason: depth is needed across the board. Winston gives New York an upgrade at quarterback and doesn't hinder its draft no matter how the board shakes out.
Winston and the Giants are a match; even former Giants running back Saquon Barkley concurs with that notion. That said, there's a team that makes just a little more sense for Winston.
A 3-14 season doesn't scream "hope," but Winston and the Browns re-upping for another year is a prudent play. For starters, Deshaun Watson recently suffered a setback in his rehab from an Achilles tendon rupture and could miss the entire 2025 season. This comes after he was benched in favor of third-stringer Dorian Thompson-Robinson in December 2024. Cleveland needs a starting quarterback, and Winston already has seven starts in head coach Kevin Stefanski's system under his belt. There's also the recent development of superstar defensive end Myles Garrett requesting a trade from the Browns. Should Garrett get moved, it will likely send the Browns into an entrenched rebuild. At that point, why would the Browns force anything?
Surely, the Browns could look at Sanders or Ward and see a quarterback worth selecting with the second overall pick in the draft. If they don't, however, there's merit behind taking the best player on the board (e.g. Hunter or Carter), giving Winston another year as the starter and playing it safe at the position until a clear-cut, long-term answer presents itself in their eyes.
Winston keeps the ship upright, and the Browns build out their roster in the draft and in free agency when an opportunity to sign an ascending player not yet in their prime presents itself. And from Winston's perspective, he gets the chance to enter a season as a starting quarterback for the first time since 2022. Sometimes a mutually beneficial relationship drops out of the sky. That's what Winston and the Browns are for each other: being in the right place at the right time.
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