Jameis Begins Negotiations (Sort Of)
April 25th, 2017
Leverage.
In case you were not aware, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, is one smart young man.
For those unaware, Jameis had a full academic scholarship waiting for him at Stanford when he left high school. Stanford!
But he turned that down and declined playing football at Stanford to stay closer to his Alabama home and play football at Florida State.
(Jameis said the main reason he didn’t go to Stanford was his parents wouldn’t have been able to see him play much on the west coast. He didn’t play for Alabama because Nick Saban forbade him to play baseball. How dumb was that? Might have cost Saban and the Crimson Tide two titles right there.)
Jameis is a baseball guy, though his heart is in playing quarterback for Tampa Bay. Barring something horribly unforeseen, Jameis will become the first quarterback drafted by the Bucs to make it to his second contract with the team (which is insane if you think about that). And recently, Jameis threw out the first salvo in his not-so-distant contract negotiations.
In so many words Jameis is telling Bucs AC/DC-loving Jason Licht and Team Glazer, if you want me to devote my athletic playing years to the Bucs and forever give up a chance to pitch in the major leagues, it will cost you.
Jameis told Clark Judge on the “Talk of Fame Network” that he still dreams of returning to the diamond. In other words, he has yet to lock the door shut on playing baseball, but added he had no interest in being a two-sport player. One sport only.
Smart move, young man.
On face value, as Joe stated last night, who knows if Jameis takes too many dings to the head and has to call football quits due to concussions? Or at the age of 30 (and hopefully with a ring or two on his hand) has decided he’s been beat up enough and it’s time to return to baseball?
Jameis was a helluva relief pitcher for Florida State. He had a 1.08 ERA playing in the ACC, a strong baseball conference. Jameis had a fastball that reached 94 MPH and also possessed a nasty slider. As Whitey Herzog once famously said about fireballers, “You can’t teach a guy to throw” in the 90’s.
There are trash pitchers who hang on and bounce from team to team in baseball that make a great living without the wear and tear of football to contend with.
A baseball scout told Baseball America, sort of the sport’s bible, that Jameis, had he not played football, projected as a first round pick in baseball as a right fielder. Jameis wasn’t much of a hitter in college, but the unnamed scout said that was because Jameis missed a lot of precious at-bats in summer leagues because of football duties.
At any rate, Jameis is a smart dude. He’s due to break the Team Glazer vault in a couple of years and using baseball as leverage will only sweeten his deal all the more
April 25th, 2017 at 6:55 am
It might be a 200 million dollar contract for 7-8 years.
April 25th, 2017 at 7:34 am
Got a feeling that if he can’t get this team a ring or at least competing in the playoffs for a few years straight he will either not sign a second contract and quit football altogether or jump to another team like the Patriots when Brady is done and get a ring there then retire. Critical that the Bucs do very well this year or Winston may sour on this organization and decline a second contract. Would be heartbreaking and indicting.
April 25th, 2017 at 7:58 am
I was hoping he’d be more like Brady when it comes to his contract rather than Brees and Manning. So much for what’s best for the team
April 25th, 2017 at 8:20 am
Time for him to put up or shut up. Not fold like a cheap suit at the end of the season. He does not need to be thinking about a contract until he can get the team to the playoffs!!
April 25th, 2017 at 8:20 am
Is anyone going to drop 15 million a year on him as a relief pitcher…the answer is no. This issue has zero leverage in biz world. He hasnt played in how many years? In addition, he is not MLB talent level regardless of his college numbers. MLB is a whole different level just as the NFL is compared to college FB.
April 25th, 2017 at 8:37 am
Not certain telling Coach and the front office all about his love for baseball is that smart. These people are looking for commitment.
April 25th, 2017 at 8:41 am
Yawn
April 25th, 2017 at 8:46 am
JW retires at 33, that’s 12 years in football, probably $180-250 million in the bank, the Montreal Moose, formerly the Tampa Rays, would give him a minor league contract to pitch in the Trop for the St Pete Jellyfish, the Jellyfish would average more fans a night in the Trop than the Rays averaged, sad but true
April 25th, 2017 at 10:05 am
Jameis isn’t the type to give up on anything… he’s a buc and he’s gone be a buc
April 25th, 2017 at 10:14 am
Arealbucfan Says:
April 25th, 2017 at 10:05 am
Jameis isn’t the type to give up on anything… he’s a buc and he’s gone be a buc
———
Disappointed that it took 9 JBF posters to actually get a comment right.
April 25th, 2017 at 10:19 am
Pay me
April 25th, 2017 at 11:11 am
Man some of you just like to cry about the sky falling every chance you get.
There is literally nothing about Jameis already talking / negotiating for a huge pay day, or using the threat of baseball as leverage in any way.
Bunch of chicken littles running around here getting all riled up by the Joes making some heavy assumptions and conclusions based on 1 sound bite. Lol smdh
April 25th, 2017 at 11:36 am
Stanford was giving him a full boat scholarship.
I’ll bet he has skills enough to get an oportunity.
And Major league pitchers make REAL money!
Waaaay more than a QB.
I dont think Jameis is planing to go anywhere.
But its nice to make the Bucs worry, right around contract time
Jim-in 2017, money buys commitment. Nothing else.
April 25th, 2017 at 12:32 pm
Jameis will likely be deserving of the huge payday, but i hope he pays attention to what has happened to most teams after they move their QB to the top of the salary list with their new contract. almost every team who has gone that route has crippled the rest of their roster…the saints, ravens, manning-era colts, and now the Seahawks are all examples of cap situations getting maxed out and stocked rosters quickly thinning out after they put all their eggs in the QB basket with a “highest-paid-QB” deal.
April 25th, 2017 at 6:28 pm
Someone tell the clueless Dognutz that JW is every bit a major league talent. The scouts think so and those who have seen him play know so.
April 25th, 2017 at 6:44 pm
No way should Jameis be talking “next stops” in this third of five rookie contract years. And every time he starts talking that smack, the Bucs ought to start talking about prospective QBs in the next draft. Maybe flash a few pics of Tim Tebow wearing his minor league hat driving a used Ford Fiesta.
April 25th, 2017 at 7:42 pm
“There are trash pitchers who hang on and bounce from team to team in baseball that make a great living without the wear and tear of football to contend with.” – Joe
No there is not. Every single pitcher in the MLB and Triple AAA is ridiculous! They might suck relative to Chris Sale but the amount of talent it takes to get that far is crazy
April 25th, 2017 at 8:22 pm
Without doing any research, Oliver Perez springs to mind. Same with Jonathan Broxton.
Is Latoya Hawkins still around? That dude threw batting practice for years and still found work.