Jameis Winston: Drew Brees a Dream Mentor; Used to Teach Myself, Use Google

Jameis Winston is upgrading his lesson plan from Google to Drew Brees. 

"Being a quarterback, you have to be a student of the game," the 26-year-old told reporters during his introductory conference call with the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday. "So now, I actually get a chance to dive into that more, and I actually have a Hall of Fame quarterback that I'm learning from, as opposed to trying to learn by myself or use Google."

Winston also noted that Brees has actually long been a resource for him. The two met when Winston was 12 years old seeking an autograph from Brees, who had just arrived in New Orleans from San Diego in 2006, and then again before Winston was drafted No. 1 overall to Tampa Bay in 2015.

"There's only a few people in this league that actually follow up with you when you ask them a question, when you reach out to them," Winston said. "And ever since then, he's always been a guy that I can hit up during the season and ask a question, and he'll get back with me. So I just love the person that he is and the guy that he is, and I'm so excited to learn from him and help serve him in any way."

The Saints finalized a one-year deal with Winston on Tuesday:

Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson first reported the pending move on Sunday, outlining the Saints' perspective:

Winston reportedly left a "much larger" offer on the table in order to go to New Orleans and learn behind Brees:

Winston was not expected to land a starting job after the Buccaneers let him test unrestricted free agency and signed Tom Brady to a two-year deal as his replacement. The Florida State product logged one of the more peculiar seasons in recent memory by throwing for a league-most 5,109 yards and 30 interceptions alongside 33 touchdowns.

Winston will compete with Taysom Hill, who is uniquely utilized in the Saints' offense as a multi-purpose weapon, to become Brees' backup.