The Bucs are in a tailspin, and even though we all know Winston (and the Bucs) will play some lights-out games still in 2019 I think we (almost) all agree we know what the Bucs are in 2019 - and that's not very good.
Let's assume that Winston's play continues as is the rest of the season: some good, some great, some terrible.
What would you do with Winston and the Bucs QB position the rest of the season and offseason?
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Here's my thoughts:
* There is no way you start Winston in 2020. You know he's not the long term answer - the longer you wait to move on the more you extend the pain. It's already been 5 years.
* Yet, you also want to maximize Winston's trade value. I think he still has value (look at the Bradford trade) because there's an offensive HC who loves Winston's pedigree and thinks HE can be the guy to turn Winston around. *cough* Gruden *cough*
* This means starting Winston the rest of the season and coddling him with a run heavy, un-aggressive approach. The goal, like in Weeks 2-4 this season, is to manufacture "progress" with Winston. The one exception is if he goes into a tailspin like in 2018.
* The one challenge is that you have to franchise him. The time to try and trade Winston was last year, but of course the Bucs are of the "trade guys too late" approach. It's definitely harder to trade a franchised player both because you can't manipulate the cap to sweeten the trade, it creates a high cap cost, and the team may want a deal with Winston in place.
* This also means you're looking to acquire assets for 2020 to get the QB and/or support the rebuild. I'd put anyone and everyone on the trade block. You're of course not looking to trade everyone, and some players will have the two 1st round pick premium. But if a team is offering a 1st and 2nd for Godwin or Evans, I'm seriously thinking about that.
* Then - draft and rebuild. Sign a Tannehill/Keenum/McCarron type to bridge the gap. Hopefully there's a QB you love in 2020, if not you're stockpiling picks to make a move in 2021.
