A pair of NFC South foes that were in the mix for Deshaun Watson a week ago and ultimately rejected finalized deals with different quarterbacks on Monday. The Atlanta Falcons agreed to terms with free agent Marcus Mariota on a two-year contract, and shortly thereafter, the New Orleans Saints chose to re-sign Jameis Winston, also to a two-year pact.
Although options at quarterback were limited, both teams made some logical moves. Mariota -- who spent the past two seasons as the Las Vegas Raiders' backup -- is now reunited with Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who served as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator during Mariota's final campaign there, back in 2019. As for Winston, he entered 2021 as the Saints' starter and had his year cut short due to a torn ACL. Both players may be bridge starters.
"I have more confidence in Jameis Winston, going back to that system in New Orleans," CBS Sports senior NFL reporter Jonathan Jones told the Reiter Than You show on Tuesday. "Obviously, Sean Payton's not there anymore, but Pete Carmichael is. He performed extremely well last season, before the ACL. And we all know about his propensity to throw to the other team before last year... I look at Mariota, though, and I see a guy who's dealt with injuries.
"Even in his very limited time last year, well, it was limited because of the quad injury. That's always going to linger over him. Not only that, the Falcons have a really bad roster, and are very well in a rebuild and reset right now... Just from a basic, 'what quarterback can be more successful in their system right now,' I don't think there's any question it'd be Jameis Winston over Marcus Mariota."
The entire NFL conversation between Jones and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
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