Skip to main content
Join

Jameis Winston dances at Mardi Gras, says he loves Saints, wants to stay in NOLA forever

profilephotocropby:Suzanne Halliburton•02/14/24•

suzhalliburton

jameis winston saints
Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports

If every day could be like this one, Jameis Winston would spend the rest of his life with the Saints and in New Orleans, especially at Mardi Gras.

Winston, the former Florida State star and top pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, will have a decision to make this off season. His contract is up with the Saints next month, so he can test the open market or return to the Saints as a backup.

But sometimes it’s not all about living life as an NFL vagabond, going from city to city looking for that starting job. Life can be good as a second stringer if said life is with the Saints and in New Orleans.

The New Orleans station WDSU caught up with Winston on Mardi Gras Tuesday. He brought his son so the two could have fun dancing and catching beads thrown from the floats.

“I love to have fun, and that’s what we do, we have fun,” Winston told the WDSU reporter. “I would love to stay in NOLA forever Where ever the Lord has planned for me I’m going to go there and do my best. Hopefully, it’s here. … I love this city.”

And then this Saints player of four years talked about why he adores New Orleans.

“I just love the people,” he said, “When I go out, I meet individuals, they’re just so authentic. … I was born in Alabama, so that Southern hospitality, that Southern love. There’s not another place in the world like New Orleans. And just the love that’s here, I really admire it.”

Saints fans spotted the popular Winston and there was a steady stream of people coming up to talk to the quarterback and pose for selfies. Second-string quarterbacks always are popular, but Winston may be beloved more than most.

He said he’ll pose for photos “as long as I’m out here. It doesn’t matter, I don’t think my cheek bones are going to get stuck. I’m going to be smiling, I’m going to be enjoying myself. They deserve it. We all deserve it.”

The Bucs drafted Winston in 2015. But by 2020, the team signed Tom Brady, who’d just left the Patriots. That left Winston without a starting job. The Saints re-signed Winston last year, but it’s unclear what they’ll do this off season.