Some things never change. The Cleveland Browns will churn through quarterbacks and the Pittsburgh Steelers will manage to find more wins than losses. That’s simply life in the AFC North.
As much as fans would like, players can often fulfill these prophecies. Player development is more of an offseason endeavor than a week-to-week expedition, and at some point, players are largely the same until the age curve comes for them.
Thus, anyone expecting Cleveland quarterback Jameis Winston to turn into a risk-average game manager is probably fooling themselves.
That includes Winston himself.
The Browns quarterback promised to fix one key issue this offseason – his crippling proclivity for turning over the football.
"Honestly, the quarterbacks I've been watching this offseason have been Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson because I think they do a good job of limiting their own critical errors," Winston said recently on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast. "Early on in both of their careers, you see the flashy. They show you they can make a play when it's time to make a play.
"But sometimes they play games where you're just like, 'Man, they have took 18 consecutive checkdowns.' And I think that's the part of my game I have to really master. I know I can win a shootout. I know I can go out there and surgically dissect any defense that comes my way. But now the key to my game, to me actually elongating my career, is winning football games and protecting our team to the best ability I can."
Winston, famously, has a knack for giving away the football, even after an ironic Lasik surgery. He’s played in 143 fewer games than free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers and thrown five fewer interceptions.
In 2019, he led the league in attempts, passing yards, and interceptions, becoming the first (and only) quarterback in league history to throw at least 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in the same season.
That trend has largely followed Winston from Tampa Bay to New Orleans, Cleveland, and wherever his next home may be.
He publicly prayed to be delivered from pick-sixes after costing the Browns a win against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.
These interceptions, seemingly intertwined with the very nature of Winston’s game, aren’t likely to leave him anytime soon. Any team interested in signing Winston this spring must operate with that assumption.
