Props To Jason Licht
March 13th, 2015
Practicing what he preaches.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht was not bashful telling folks one of the most important lessons he ever learned in the NFL came while working alongside Bill Belicheat.
Belicheat told his personnel men, in so many words, that everyone makes mistakes in player evaluation. The worst thing, Belicheat insisted to Licht, about making an evaluation error is hanging on to the mistake hoping the player eventually gets it. Instead, cut your losses and move on.
This week, Licht put that philosophy to work big time when he cut ties with ghostly defensive end Michael Johnson and left tackle Anthony Collins, on the heels of throwing turnover-prone quarterback Josh McCown overboard.
Those were three of the four big-ticket items Licht bought with Team Glazer cash last spring. The “Custodian of Canton,” eye-RAH! Kaufman, of the Tampa Tribune said Licht should be lauded for his jettisoning the big salaries who did nothing but drag the Bucs down to win the Chase for Jameis.
Kaufman explained to Olivia Stacey in a recent TBO.com podcast.
“This regime doesn’t hesitate to admit their flaws and their mistakes. And you know what? That’s probably a positive,” Kaufman said. “Some other teams might have kept a Michael Johnson or [Anthony] Collins for another year and try to show your owners, ‘Hey, it just took a while for these guys to grasp.’ But they cut bait.
“If you are a Bucs fan, it does not exonerate them from bungling free agency last year. It was bad. You can throw [Josh] McCown in the mix.”
Bungling? Sheesh, that is being polite. Had Alterraun Verner not turned the corner later in the season, it would have been a gruesome grand slam.
But Licht held true to a Belicheat axiom. Now it’s time to start getting some Belicheat-like victories for a change.
March 13th, 2015 at 7:19 am
I agree wholeheartedly with Licht’s willingness to “cut his losses”… so how many frantic games and/or incidents will he tolerate before admitting that Jameis was a mistake ? It’s one thing to “cut bait” with a bad free agent signing…. quite another to do it with a #1 draft pick !
March 13th, 2015 at 7:20 am
First let’s get a DE and some O-line help!
March 13th, 2015 at 7:21 am
Yup, Kudos for the right decisions in releasing them. Now we need an edge rusher and at least ONE O lineman (if theres any left).
March 13th, 2015 at 7:22 am
“… Now it’s time to start getting some Belicheat-like victories for a change.”
Simple as that!
March 13th, 2015 at 7:22 am
@Largo
Hope you stick around and come back to admit how wrong you were when Winston is helping us win games.
March 13th, 2015 at 7:28 am
@MadMax:
I hope I AM wrong. I’m a Bucs fan first ! But, like everyone else that posts here, I have my opinions and doubts…. Jameis SCARES me ! Tries to do it ALL (not the best thing in the NFL) and “appears” to have character flaws (ask Freeman how that worked out). Not saying its the same… but there were/are warning signs…
March 13th, 2015 at 7:36 am
I get you. But I dont see a Freeman in him at all talent wise….hes much more talented. The other stuff I chalk up to just being young and stupid…immaturity issues…and I DO NOT THINK he raped that girl….cant even go there after reading everything about it.
March 13th, 2015 at 7:41 am
Erving with our 2nd pick (NE owes us and they know it, they better not touch him)….Ogbuehi with our 3rd.
March 13th, 2015 at 7:41 am
@LargoSamIM
“Tries to do it ALL (not the best thing in the NFL)”
I don’t totally disagree with you on this in regards to last year. Winston had far less talent around him on offense than he did in 2013 which forced him into trying to do to much at times.. Obviously with the Bucs he will have better talent around him.IMO i really believe JW will be more like 2013 than 2014..
March 13th, 2015 at 7:42 am
Sooooo, do we call him rockstar, or does he have to flame out in the draft more????
March 13th, 2015 at 7:43 am
$14 mil in Dead Money against the cap with Johnson, Collins & Goldson….cutting the players….but not the losses….we still feel the losses.
I do agree that it is better to get rid of mistakes than to keep them around…..cancer spreads….
March 13th, 2015 at 7:47 am
@JOE: Quick question – Do you think Winston is a “near-lock” at this point? Surprised there has not been article on Mariota under-performing at his pro-day yet? (unless I have missed something).
Is the QB talk simmering down as we expect to take Jameis?
March 13th, 2015 at 7:50 am
I’m glad Licht admitted the mistakes and moved on but they need to find the source of their bad decision making and fix it.
I wonder if McCown was offered up for a trade before they released him. It’s a sellers market for QBs. McCown was courted by a handful of teams and quickly signed After being released. Licht dropped the ball if he didn’t work the market for a trade. He should’ve been able to get a late round pick for him.
March 13th, 2015 at 7:52 am
The feeling I’m getting is there has been a subtle power shift as it pertains to the control over player personnel going on at One Buc Palace, these are Lovie’s signings, at least we were told they were, as we were led to believe he had total control over the personnel moves last season, but based on his history, he doesn’t cut bait on bad signings…something is changing, and come Jan 4, 2016, and the Bucs have sucked ass once again, I wouldn’t be shocked if Licht was the last man standing….
March 13th, 2015 at 7:52 am
Well I feel better now after hearing Belicheats words of wisdom. Bill is such a mentor. Did Licht mention anything about video taping the opponents while they practice? Licht FYI: Stay away from Bengal FA’s and Clemson players in the draft.
March 13th, 2015 at 8:00 am
Damn the falcons picked up O’brien Schofield?? I thought he wouldve been a solid pick up for us. We need to find a situational pass rusher or 2 then we can get ready for the draft because we can find a couple of starting lineman there.
March 13th, 2015 at 8:05 am
I just hope Licht learned that aging pro bowl guards go for 5th round picks not 4th rounders and tim wright
March 13th, 2015 at 8:19 am
I would agree except for the fact that we haven’t replaced them. If nothing else we could have used them for depth. As I see it we need to draft the following:
– QB, 2 DEs, Left Tackle, Right Guard, Middle Linebacker, Safety, Slot Receiver, punter. All of those picks need to come in and start.
As reserves we need to draft the following:
– Left Tackle, left guard, right guard, center, right tackle, cornerback, safety, DE, return man
So, all we need to is get all 18 of our draft picks perfect and we are looking at a 7-9 season. Oh wait, it’s a 7 round draft correct? Uh oh!
March 13th, 2015 at 8:30 am
Yeah, incompetent Lovie Smith and his lapdog Licht are real good at cutting players. When it comes to signing talented football players they are apparently the worst of all time. Not sure how you can expect them to be successful this way. Going out and signing all former Marinelli players this offseason is proving that they don’t even trust their own talent evaluation anymore, defaulting to guys he coached in Shtcago or guys he coached and doesn’t care enough about to keep in Dallas. So great, they cut terrible football players. Congratulations! It’s like praising them for not shtting the bed at night. Good boys! Give em a sticker
March 13th, 2015 at 8:32 am
Yes, ridding of the dead weight is good. HOWEVER, not getting a legit DE for the defense in Derrick Morgan is shameful. He was in our building all day yesterday and he signs with TEN again. Licht doesnt get it! There are times to be frugal and other times spend a bit more. I mean who thinks Larry English is a true NFL starter?? Good depth or backup but that is it.
March 13th, 2015 at 8:35 am
meh, no props here……just means he no longer needs a good bi%$h slapping.
March 13th, 2015 at 8:47 am
@madmax
“I get you. But I dont see a Freeman in him at all talent wise….hes much more talented.”
I’m not a Winstonite like you but I agree Fameis is far more talented that JFro.
He actually can put some touch on passes and he doesn’t choke like JFro.
If we must make comparisons I liken Fameis more to Roethisberger….big strong, mobile enough to string out plays before finally hitting his receiver.
Of course MM supporters would make the same claim.
March 13th, 2015 at 9:05 am
Is Myers still on the team? Myers and McDonald were the other two in that silly initial photo from free agency last year.
March 13th, 2015 at 9:25 am
If this year’s FA + draft is another whiff, then Licht can go learn from his mistakes with another team.
March 13th, 2015 at 9:31 am
The problem is that while admitting your past mistakes, Bucs continue to compound the current mistake, no LT, Guard or DE after their second FA season. That’s inexcuseable! Bucs are actually thinner at DE and Oline than they were last year if that’s possible and of course they’ll draft a “project” and pick up some stiff right before the regular season who will be clueless with the system. It boggles the mind how inept and arrogant L&L are at player/team need evaluation.
March 13th, 2015 at 9:37 am
@Stpete, haha, guess I am a Winstonite now. I wasnt before the Combine. I was all about Leonard Williams. But then the combine came, and I saw Williams speed wasnt as fast as I thought it would be. We need edge pass rush though, and if we didnt have GMC, Id still be for going with Williams all the way. But Winston did a helluva job convincing me at the combine. He’s a cant miss QB and we just happen to have a need at that position as well.
March 13th, 2015 at 9:39 am
I gotta say they missed but structuring the contracts in that way was big time!!! imagine having a slogan called noflyzone because you built your defense from the backend to front so you have one average to below average and an elite corner that is slowed by injury running your defense. considering that lovie already has more free agents that worked out than greg schiano did in two full years i’d say licht and lovie are on the rise. i’m sure by midseason he knew the d line sucked and that he’d go after all these guys they just signed
March 13th, 2015 at 10:40 am
Props? For what? Lovie and Jason have made this team worse than when Greg was here. Lovie sat in his basement for a year evaluating talent and that is what he gave us?? A two win season.
Why was Lovie hired? One super bowl appearance? Bill Callahan had one super bowl appearance, why didn’t we hire him?
Melton and Conte are both injury prone and Conte sucks out loud. Talent wise as of 3/13/15 this team is worse than last year.
Lovie and Jason have to hit on most of their draft picks or we are screwed again.
March 13th, 2015 at 10:46 am
The real issue here is the fact that they pretty much mis-evaluated every single player they signed. I take no solace in the fact that they cut them quickly.
March 13th, 2015 at 10:53 am
Winston did a couple stupid things you only heard about cause he was under the microscope cause of that cleat chaser. Go on youtube and you can find countless videos of him speaking and working with kids. Go see that character then talk to me about it
March 13th, 2015 at 11:30 am
Licht makes Matt Millen look like Ron Wolf at this point. But other than that he’s been real solid.
March 13th, 2015 at 11:58 am
Bungling? Outside of Anthony Collins, Josh McCown and Michael Johnson were ranked as the top free agents in there class at the time. After Bennett resigned with Seattle (who we went after first) Michael Johnson became number 1 as far as DE’s went. And Josh was the # 1 free agent QB. None of us thought they would all be this bad and we know it. As I seem to recall not that many people were complaining that we signed these guys when it happened with the exception of Anthony Collins.
March 13th, 2015 at 12:27 pm
To bad the Glazers got the word so we could cut bait with Lovie. Now we have to suffer another year of Lovie.