When training camp kicks off later this summer, the New Orleans Saints will have a quarterback competition for the first time in years to find the successor for future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.
Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill are expected to enter camp on equal footing, with a chance to follow Brees as the Saints' starting quarterback.
After re-signing in New Orleans on a one-year contract, Winston said Tuesday that he would be honored to follow in Brees' footsteps.
"It's a tremendous amount of responsibility following behind a guy like Drew Brees, but I embrace that," Winston said, via Jeff Nowak of NOLA.com "... I would love to carry that torch."
Winston spent one season as a backup behind Brees but never made a start. The former No. 1 overall pick in Tampa Bay, where he was a starter for five years, got emotional talking about what it meant to be around and learn from one of the best to ever play in the NFL.
"Being able to have an entire season with Drew Brees was a dream of mine," Winston said. "And for him to put his arm around me, just give me any encouraging words after I saw the resilience, the passion, the way that he went and approached every single day, for that to even be a story, I was touched by that because he doesn't even know how much he means to me and my family, for real. But I'm not going to share what he shared with me, I don't even remember but it touched me. Then having the chance to play in the playoffs, winning a playoff game, getting a chance to throw a touchdown in the playoffs, like, I love football. That's all I've done my entire life and someone I look up to, that I admire, that I actually could touch was my teammate and I had a chance to serve him, man, I'm speechless. That really gets me emotional because I really love Drew Brees, like, I don't think he understands."
Come July, Winston will have a shot to earn the right to take that torch from Brees and win the starting QB job.