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Saints' Sean Payton believes Buccaneers tanked for Jameis Winston

There were myriad reasons why I assumed Saints coach Sean Payton signed Jameis Winston as a back-up quarterback for 2020. Winston only recently turned 26 years old. He is a former Heisman Trophy winner. He led the NFL in passing yards in 2019, and was second in touchdown passes to MVP Lamar Jackson. Winston badly wanted to spend the season with Payton, a QB maestro who helped revive Teddy Bridgewater's career. Oh, and at $1M for one season, the price is right.
There was also another ancillary part of the Saints evaluation that I had never pondered, however. Something that had never crossed my mind but that was among the factors Payton weighed this spring in deciding whether to sign Winston, who had spent the first five years of his career with NFC South rival Tampa after being the first overall pick in 2015.
"You say, 'Well, throw Winston into this draft - because we can all remember him coming out and I was there at his Pro Day and sat right literally five yards behind him as he threw 80-some, 90-some passes," Payton said on my radio show, Inside Access on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore. "How would he grade? And I think he'd fare extremely well in this class, and a number of classes, enough to where someone thought that much of him that they selected him with the first pick in the draft.
"Heck, they lost a game on purpose to us at the end of the season prior with (head coach) Lovie Smith. They forced Lovie to take his starters out of the game so they could get the one spot to draft Jameis. So we're excited to work with him, and he's still a young player – only 26 years old I believe – and I know he's got a great work ethic and I know he's competitive. So we'll see how that unfolds, but we're excited that he's joined our team and he'll be a part of what we're trying to accomplish."
Hello!
Turns out Payton was just getting started. He went on to express his dismay with how the NFL handled its "Bountygate" investigation into the Saints years ago and made it clear he doubts the NFL will pursue recent allegations by former Steeler James Harrison with the same vigor (Harrison claimed on a podcast that Mike Tomlin handed him an envelope, ostensibly of cash, after incurring a $75,000 fine in 2010). The Steelers have since issued a statement denying Harrison's claim.

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