The PewterReport.com Roundtable features the opinions of the PR staff as it tackles a topic related to the Tampa Bay Bucs each week.

This week’s topic: Will Winston Start Again At QB For The Bucs?

Scott Reynolds: He Better Not, For Koetter’s Sake
Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter indicated that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the starter for Sunday’s game at Carolina, but did not commit to him past this week. That tells me that the organization hasn’t given up on Jameis Winston just yet, and that Koetter reserves the right to go back to Winston if Fitzpatrick falters in any future game in the 2018 season. For Koetter’s sake, he better hope he doesn’t have to turn to Winston and that Fitzpatrick can remain the starter and go at least 5-4 down the stretch – preferably 6-3 or better – to save his job this season.

If Fitzpatrick doesn’t have any FitzMagic left and Koetter has to go back to a quarterback that has a league-high 10 interceptions in a little over three and a half games played this season, it will be the deadliest game of quarterback yo-yo any Tampa Bay head coach has played since Sam Wyche kept going back and forth between Trent Dilfer and Casey Weldon in 1995, and we all know how that worked out for Wyche. The best-case scenario for the Bucs may appear to be Winston getting his starting job back and playing well down the stretch at first glance, which would make the organization feel better about handing him $20.92 million next year in his fifth-year option.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston: Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

But if Winston is going to throw this many interceptions – he has a streak of five games with at least two turnovers dating back to the 2017 season finale – in his fourth year in the league, can this team really trust him? Based upon the evidence, this may be the scariest $20.92 million bet any ownership group, head coach and general manager has ever made in NFL history. The only way Winston would even sniff that money if I were in charge would be if he came back and played five straight games without a turnover, which I don’t see happening. As Trevor Sikkema said in his Cover 3, turnovers are in Winston’s football DNA, dating back to Florida State.

I have spent almost four years supporting Winston and validating his play as a possible franchise quarterback in Tampa Bay, but like Trent Dilfer and Josh Freeman before him, there comes a point where his play dictates that I jump off the bandwagon. For me that thought process began with his two interceptions against Cleveland and concluded on Sunday at Cincinnati. Being a turnover machine will cause his career to be more like journeymen Tony Banks and Kerry Collins than Ben Roethlisberger. I would love for Winston to prove me wrong.

The real base-case scenario for the Bucs, specifically Koetter and general manager Jason Licht, is for the FitzMagic to return and ball out while leading Tampa Bay to a wild card playoff berth at 9-7 – if that record will qualify the Bucs this year for the postseason. That would allow the franchise to feel good about moving forward with Fitzpatrick next year, parting ways with Winston and drafting a new quarterback for the future. Here’s one thing to keep in mind. If Tampa Bay triples Fitzpatrick’s salary next year and pays him $9.9 million, the Bucs will save $10 million in cap space from Winston’s $20.92 million fifth-year option. That could allow Tampa Bay to keep DeSean Jackson, who is owed $10 million in 2019. Who would you rather have in red and pewter next year – Winston and no Jackson or Fitzpatrick and Jackson?

Mark Cook: Of Course Winston Will Play For The Bucs Again
When dealing with the Ryan Fitzpatrick question, I will channel my inner Denny Green and paraphrase, “(Fitzpatrick) is who we thought he is.” So you are telling me after this long in the league Fitzpatrick all of a sudden has it figured out? All those years and different teams with different players, and it took until 2018 to get to the right system and the right coach to make Fitzpatrick a top-tier quarterback?

Look, I love what Fitzpatrick has done. He is a great story, and great guy and playing the best football of his career. But he isn’t Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or a future Hall of Famer by any stretch. He is who we thought he is. I agree, right now, Winston needs to sit and you roll with the hot hand. Winston clearly has a ton of work to be done, and who knows if he ever gets better when it comes to eliminating turnovers, but is everyone off his bandwagon? He’s a 24-year old quarterback who has played with a historically bad defense over the last three years. How many field goals has Winston missed? How many blown coverages has Winston had? How many missed tackles and missed sacks is Winston responsible for?

I am in no way defending Sunday’s four-interception debacle. That was inexcusable. But Fitzpatrick was contemplating retirement last offseason, so you are hedging your bets he comes back for a couple more years AND that he continues to play lights out? A journeyman quarterback who has been on seven different teams? And is just now figuring it out. That is ludicrous and not a recipe for success moving forward.

Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick – Photo by: Getty Images

Play Fitz as long as the magic continues, and if he does well, great. Everyone keeps their job for one more year. But then what? So you are a 9-7, or 10-6 football team drafting at No. 25 and you think you are drafting your franchise quarterback at that position next April? Have you seen what teams have given up compensation-wise the last few years to move into the Top 10?

Let Winston sit, clear his head and watch a guy who plays with zero pressure on him. What does Fitzpatrick have to lose? Of course he is going to come out slinging the ball all over the field. What is the worst thing that can happen? Fitzpatrick gets benched and he goes back to the sideline and keeps earning a $3 million paycheck. Hopefully Winston can learn to just go play football. He has been hammered with “You have to change your mechanics, you can’t turn the ball over – do this, do that – don’t screw up the franchise kid.” And maybe a change of scenery would be best for Winston next year. But if you let him walk, you run the risk of being the team that gave up on a 24-year old quarterback that still has a decent ceiling. And for anyone who thinks Winston should never see the field again in a Bucs uniform, you can’t complain if he joins Doug Williams, Steve Young and Trent Dilfer as future Super Bowl winners once they left the organization.

I say get Winston back on the field in a game or two and roll the rest of the year with him. Leave no stone unturned. Tell him to stop thinking too much. Stop worrying about turnovers. Jut go play football and have fun like you’ve done since you were a six-year old kid.

Trevor Sikkema: Yes, But He Shouldn’t
I think the Jameis Winston era should be over in Tampa Bay. I think it’s crazy to watch the roller coaster he’s been for this franchise over the last few years and now here we sit with him getting benched this week against Carolina and think that it makes any sense to believe he’s the future.

But I still think the Bucs are holding onto hope – maybe because they have to.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – photo by: Mary Holt/Pewter Report

Mark Cook referenced above that Ryan Fitzpatrick is who we thought he was, and I’m not sure I’d disagree with that. Fitzpatrick will likely have a struggle streak over the next nine games that could open the door for Winston to come back. However, I would argue that Winston is who we thought he was, too.

Nothing seems to have changed from his days at Florida State when he was a turnover machine. Sure, he’s a little better here and there, but decision-making was always Winston’s biggest knock as a pro prospect, and here he is four years older and four years more experienced with the same mistakes – if not them worsened. He’s thrown 10 interceptions in three and a half games, which is tied for the league lead. Why would we expect Winston returning to the same coaching staff with the same plays and the same players be any different? This is who he is as a Buccaneer – perhaps for another team it will be different.

I would say that we haven’t seen the last of Winston in 2018, but to think he would come back and be a different guy is a big bet, at this point. The Bucs are likely still crossing their fingers. Their chips are already on the table, after all.