Jameis Winston signed a $25.35 million contract with Tampa Bay, and the fine print reportedly specifies that Winston will not be allowed to play baseball.
Winston was a two-sport athlete at Florida State, excelling at football and baseball. Some speculated he may try to be a professional in both sports, but he made it clear his focus was only on football. Tampa Bay wanted to make sure.
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"[Bucs GM Jason] Licht and agents Greg Genske and Kenny Felder negotiated the Winston contract so he’d have the business of football out of the way and he could focus solely on football, starting with the Bucs’ minicamp that gets underway Thursday in Tampa," writes Peter King of Sports Illustrated. "In the contract, a Bucs’ source said, is a clause prohibiting Winston from playing professional baseball during the life of his Tampa Bay deal."
During the Combine Winston said it'd be a "dream" for him to play professional baseball because he loves it so much. But he made it clear later in an interview with ESPN's Jon Gruden that he was focused on football.
Gruden asked him if he wanted to be a pitcher and Winston responded by saying, "I want to be a quarterback." Gruden continued by showing footage of Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, two players who played both sports.
“Are you sure there’s not a chance you’re going to play baseball like these two?"
“Yes sir.”
If Winston did decide to play baseball, he would have been a top prospect. Here's what a longtime National League amateur scout said about Winston's prospects as a baseball player back in January.
“For me, if he pitches enough, someone could say first round easily. Someone can dream and say that’s a starting pitcher,” he said, via Baseball America . “Someone would dream on him as a starter. He’d go somewhere around 15 to 20 in the first round as a starting pitcher.”
The Texas Rangers selected Winston in the 15th round in the 2012 draft, but he decided to return to school.