by St. Joseph Academy And Girls Basketball Coach Karen Swanson-Haan Part Ways
News out of Berea has confirmed that Jameis Winston has signed a one-year contract with the Cleveland Browns to backup Deshaun Watson. This officially ends any and all hope that Joe Flacco will be returning to Cleveland after his magnificent late year stretch with the Browns. The truth being, Watson has shown time and time again that he is mentally weak, and didn’t need added pressure on him that keeping a fan favorite around would have caused.
On the surface, physically, it looks like a good signing as Winston spent the past four seasons as a backup quarterback in New Orleans, where he actually started 10 games in that stint. Before that, he spent 5 years in Tampa Bay as he was their No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft out of Florida State where he started five seasons for the Bucs before they jettisoned him out of town when the chances of signing Tom Brady became a real thing.
In his career as a starter, he hasn’t been great, his teams going 34-46 in games he started. In his defense many of those games where with teams re-building or constantly restructuring. He is a suitable backup for Cleveland and will serve his role well. I don’t think many people will doubt that, the problem with this signing is much different. He was brought in because the Cleveland Browns couldn’t run the risk of a PR nightmare bringing back the guy everyone actually wanted. Allow me to explain….
Bringing back Joe Flacco would have put the pressure on Deshaun Watson to live up to his contract and the massive amount of picks the Browns gave away to obtain him. Watson has been a disaster since arriving in Cleveland and this season is a make-or-break year for him. If he bombs this year with either injury or more bad performances, as crazy it sounds, the Browns may do everything possible to get rid of him. It’s absolute desperation time with Watson, no matter how anyone wants to spin it. Flacco being around would have put immense pressure on him, and the Browns front office simply couldn’t have it. This move was made to protect Watson, not to challenge him, again, the Cleveland Browns front office is bailing out a guy who has done nothing to earn it.
Winston is not the lovable backup and hero Flacco was, far from it. Winston has had allegations of sexual assault against him, groping, vulgar comments, shop lifting incidents and a long line of bonehead moves and comments that never seem to stop. His last game with New Orleans, he ignored kneeling the ball on the final play of the game, and instead called for a touchdown run against a shocked Falcons defense, causing the Saints to win 48-17 in a game that was long decided.
Welcome to Cleveland…..
