Jameis Winston Rumors: Latest on QB's Future in Tampa Bay After New CBA Passed

The passage of a new collective bargaining agreement has done little to improve the odds of Jameis Winston staying with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2020 season.

The basic structure of the franchise and transition tags remains the same, so the Bucs were still faced with the difficult decision of using the tag on Winston or Shaquil Barrett.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday morning the Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on Barrett, meaning Winston will now be a free agent.

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times also reported last Wednesday that Tampa Bay was prioritizing Tom Brady and "will do almost anything to land the quarterback who has been to the playoffs for 11 straight seasons and won six Super Bowls."

He added that head coach Bruce Arians "would prefer to move on from Jameis Winston," with general manager Jason Licht effectively letting Arians make the call.

It's not hard to see why the Bucs would be content to lose Winston despite the fact that he's only 26 and coming off a career year. His 2019 season encapsulated the extreme variance that has been a trend throughout his first five seasons.

Winston was the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns (33) and 30 interceptions (30). His final pass was fittingly intercepted by Atlanta Falcons linebacker Deion Jones and returned for the decisive score in a 28-22 overtime defeat.

Football Outsiders' Dan Morse looked at a number of metrics to find the closest parallels to Winston's 2019 campaign. The list includes a mix of franchise QBs (Steve McNair, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning) and others around whom you wouldn't necessarily build an offense (Jake Delhomme, Jeff George and Tarvaris Jackson).

Any team that wants Winston might have to pay a steep price based on the terms of Ryan Tannehill's agreement with the Tennessee Titans. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the 31-year-old will receive $118 million ($91 million in guarantees) over four years, with $62 million fully guaranteed.

The Titans were one win away from the Super Bowl last season, but they are still spending big on a quarterback who was mostly underwhelming for six years before catching fire over a 10-game stretch.

Even if he's unable to exceed Tannehill's deal, Winston is in a position to get at least $20 million annually considering that's the equivalent of the 18th-highest average salary for a quarterback heading into 2020, per Spotrac. That would still be a risky bet for the Buccaneers or any other team.

Signing Brady would still leave Tampa Bay without a long-term solution at quarterback, but it's a better short-term play than gambling on Winston.