Honestly, though, Taysom critics & even his impassioned Saints & BYU fans had room for a LOT of questions regarding his readiness or competence to take over.

There were good, logical reasons for thinking Jameis would be a safer bet over Taysom replacing Brees.

30 years old & only 18 career passing attempts could NOT be ignored.

But neither could Taysom's experience & salary in the organization. Nor Payton & Brees's steady endorsement of him as the future. Yeah, they went w Bridgewater last season, but they were paying him as the backup & yet were openly indicating they weren't gonna go w him long-term. That being the case, I think Payton felt professionally obligated to put Bridgewater in. To do otherwise would've really hurt his career (& instead it ended up helping him bigtime).

But selecting & signing Taysom over Bridgewater was the clear sign that nothing about the Saint's decision last weekend was to be unexpected. Winston's getting a minimum salary w absolutely no guarantees. His contract is NOTHING like Bridgewater's was.