TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: Quarterback Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and offensive guard Ali Marpet #74 warm up before the start of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on September 17, 2017 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Whatever the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ultimately decide to do with Jameis Winston, the excuses will absolutely have to stop moving forward.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have an extremely important decision to make over the course of the next few weeks.

The Buccaneers could choose to re-sign current QB Jameis Winston, either using the franchise tag or inking a short-term deal. Tampa Bay could also pursue other avenues- including free agent QBs Tom Brady, Philip Rivers and Teddy Bridgewater– and address the future in the NFL Draft.

No matter what the Buccaneers elect to do with Jameis Winston, the excuses being made by many members of the fanbase have to stop moving forward.

Stop Making Excuses:

I completely understand that not all 30 interceptions thrown by Jameis Winston were necessarily his fault. I also understand that a game isn’t won or lost by a single player, but by a team as a whole.

But we’ve got to stop pretending that Jameis Winston wasn’t a major reason why the Buccaneers missed the playoffs last season.

It’s fine to support him and believe that he can turn it around- if that’s your stance- but you still have to admit that there’s work to be done. I just don’t understand the fans that want to pretend that Winston was an amazing talent and that the Buccaneers would be foolish to look at other options- Again, I’m not saying that the Bucs should move away from Winston, either. All I’m simply saying is that we have to be able to have constructive conversations and realize that there are major areas that need to be improved upon in his game.

He committed 35 turnovers (30 interceptions and five fumbles). He had 12 fumbles overall, but got back seven of them. For those counting along, that’s an average of 2.19 turnovers per game. You simply can’t win like that.

I don’t care what kind of talent you put around the quarterback, if he’s turning the ball over at a clip of more than 2 per game, you’re not going to win and you’re certainly never going to be a playoff team.

If you’re ‘Team Winston,’ that’s great. There’s nothing wrong with pulling for a guy and believing that he can improve. You see the high upside (5,000 yards and 33 touchdowns), but you can’t just talk about the high upside and pretend that the mistakes didn’t happen- at a ridiculously high-rate.

It’s unclear what the Buccaneers will do at quarterback and fans should trust that the front-office will make the right decision, but either way the excuses have to stop from Winston’s defenders.

Were there other factors that contributed to those turnovers? Yes and those have to be addressed, as well.

But the vast majority were poor decisions or mistimed throws that have to be corrected on Winston’s part- and the Bucs will never get better if those aren’t addressed moving forward.

Can it be done? Absolutely. But it will never happen if we continue to place blame other places as a way to deflect from real issues.