Jameis Winston’s first crack at the New York Giants’ starting job comes with a familiar face on the other sideline.
On Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Winston will line up against the New Orleans Saints, the team that handed him the post-Drew Brees job and then slowly pulled it back over four seasons. The 1:00 PM ET kickoff brings together a Giants team that has found a way to steady itself and a Saints group that arrives at 1-4 and fading fast.
For Winston, it is a full-circle moment that no one really drew up when he joined New York as a third-string veteran. He is now the Giants’ starter, and the 3-1-1 club is riding with him after he replaced the injured Jaxson Dart.
The numbers since then have been solid, if not flashy in the usual Winston way. He has gone 2-0-1 in his starts, and New York clearly likes where this is headed enough to have re-signed him to a two-year, $13 million extension in September.
That deal looked like insurance at the time. Now it looks like the move keeping the Giants upright.
Winston’s run with the Saints never really got the clean shot it needed. He spent four seasons in New Orleans from 2020 to 2023, beginning as Brees’ backup and ending as a player the team moved on from without much ceremony.
Across that stretch, he started just 10 of a possible 21 games. His best chance was derailed by a torn ACL in Week 8 of 2021, and after that he was stuck behind Andy Dalton and then Derek Carr.
The Saints that come to MetLife on Sunday are in no position to dictate the mood of the day. They have lost three straight, all at home, and their quarterback Tyler Shough is averaging 5.4 yards per attempt, sixth-lowest in the league. He threw two interceptions in a 23-13 loss to Minnesota, and New Orleans now looks like one of the easier matchups on the board.
Winston, meanwhile, has given the Giants more than just stopgap snaps. He threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-27 overtime tie at Washington in Week 5, helping New York climb out of a 14-point hole. Through three starts, he has six touchdowns, three interceptions and an 81.2 passer rating.
Here is how the starts have gone:
Week Opponent Result Comp/Att Yards TD INT Rating
3 Titans W 12-7 14/22 118 0 0 77.5
4 Cardinals W 36-24 18/29 250 3 2 95.5
5 at Commanders T 27-27 33/54 326 3 0 96.7
His first start was a 12-7 grind against Tennessee, one the defense mostly carried while he kept the offense on schedule. The Washington game was different. New York fell behind, and Winston delivered late, going 13 of 17 for 141 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“It was awkward, and he fought through it and kept his confidence,” head coach John Harbaugh said of Winston’s early starts, per the reporting on his reunion.
Winston did not try to dress up the week or force extra drama into it. “I dreamt of being a starter again. And now it’s here,” he said this week, adding, “I love the Saints organization.”
That is the sort of answer that fits the journey he has taken, from Tampa Bay to New Orleans to Cleveland and then to New York’s third-string room before this opportunity opened up. He was supposed to be depth. Instead, he is the headline.
The Giants also have something else working in Winston’s favor: Malik Nabers. He delivered an 11-catch, 121-yard day in Washington on a career-high 20 targets, giving Winston a true No. 1 option to lean on.
Sunday’s game also carries practical weight for New York. A win would move the Giants to 4-1-1 before a trip to Houston and their bye, exactly the kind of cushion a roster missing Dart can use before the schedule tightens. The Saints may be the right opponent at the right time, and Winston is the quarterback who gets to try to make that reunion count.
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