Jameis Winston lost just one game in his two seasons as the starting quarterback at Florida State and he wants to get the band back together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At a dinner with Buccaneers' suite holders, Winston said he'd even take a pay cut if it meant playing on the same team as defensive back Jalen Ramsey again.
"We (FSU) definitely have the best player in the world in Jalen Ramsey," Winston said, via Mark Cook of Pewter Report. "People talk about his position. But Jalen is the best cornerback, safety ... I will take a pay cut to play with him again. He has a fierce mentality."
The Buccaneers could use the help in the secondary after allowing 31 touchdown passes in 2015, the fifth-most in the NFL.
But getting Ramsey may require a trade, as most expect the defensive back to be off the board when the Buccaneers are on the clock with the No. 9 pick. Of 86 mock drafts surveyed by SB Nation, 81 have Ramsey in the top five and only Ike Taylor of NFL.com believes he will be available for the Buccaneers after falling out of the top eight.
Luckily for Winston, if the Buccaneers did end up snaring Ramsey it definitely wouldn't affect his paychecks. Not only would the team have no reason to ask him to take a pay cut, he wouldn't be allowed to renegotiate his rookie contract until after his third NFL season under the rules in the collective bargaining agreement.
Winston said he has already "shot some texts" to Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht about drafting Ramsey. In the latest mock draft from SB Nation's Dan Kadar, Ramsey is projected to be picked by the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 4 selection and the Buccaneers are instead projected to take Notre Dame offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley.
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