Jason Licht Says It Is “Bigger” To Keep Your Own
March 27th, 2021
Re-signings undervalued?
For a guy kicking tail in the offseason, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht sure seems relaxed.
Or maybe he is enjoying the fruits of his own labor?
A couple of hours before Playoff Lenny told the world Friday morning via Josina Anderson that he is returning to the Bucs, Licht appeared on “Airing it Out” with co-hosts Bill Lekas and Charlie Weis heard exclusively on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
Weis and Licht go way back to when both worked for the Belicheats. Weis is clearly impressed how Licht has been able to keep the Band of Bucs together.
While discussing the re-signings, Weis was emphatic that keeping your own good players is perhaps undervalued by many, as the spotlight for fans and national media is often on players plucked from other teams’ rosters.
Licht fully agreed.
Charlie Weis: How excited are you that you have most of the gang together?
Jason Licht: Beyond excited. If we were a different franchise, signing all of these guys, we’d be throwing parades. You forget how big it is before you bring your own guys back. So I think it gets lost sometimes when you sign your own players, who are really good players, that it is just as big as [for another] team signing a player away.
Weis: Don’t you think it is bigger [to keep your own players than signing free agents from other teams]?
Licht: Definitely. You know what you’ve got. You know what they are capable of. There is no trial-and-error with them. You jump in right where you left off. So that’s huge. Yes, I do think it is bigger.
Great point by Licht. And it seems Licht learned the hard way about free agents. We only need to look back to 2017.
It seemed Licht scored in free agency signing DeSean Jackson and offsides-jumping, Lightning-trolling, belly-shirt-wearing, practice-hating, kicker-heckling, tree-grinding , non-contact-football-loving, chicken-wings-grilling, playing-time-squawking, TV-cooking-star, half-sack Swaggy Baker. Both turned out to be supreme cancers and wrecked the locker room. In retrospect, who knows how many careers they had a hand in Pearl Harboring?
The Bucs knew those guys may have been a little, oh, rough around the edges. But how they sabotaged the team that lost out on a wild card tiebreaker the previous season likely was a shock to all at One Buc Palace.
So the Super Bowl Bucs brought back, Licht and Bucco Bruce Arians know exactly who they are, what they can do, what they cannot do and how to use them effectively.
Effectively enough to win a Super Bowl. And maybe “Go for Two.”
March 27th, 2021 at 10:10 am
Good team chemistry. The GOAT seemed to be a big (nearly unexpected) help on that score. Locker room atmosphere seemed excellent all season. No reason to expect that important, unquantifiable, aspect to change. The same guys; as JL points out. All looks good.
March 27th, 2021 at 10:12 am
Don’t forget about Mike Greenberg the unsung hero. The cherry on top of the cake could be AB. Then puzzle complete. As far as the draft I wouldn’t mind seeing a center drafted high. Other than that BPA. that includes a QB
March 27th, 2021 at 10:42 am
Desean Jackson was frustrated with the QB when they wouldn’t trade him he acted a fool. He thought the Bucs had something till he got here and was wide open every gm. Fitz had no problem hitting him in stride he wanted fitz to start.
March 27th, 2021 at 10:47 am
Yes Casual Observer – how they work, practice and play together is critical. No apparent divas. It’s all team first. That’s as, if not more, important than individual capabilities.
March 27th, 2021 at 10:59 am
If the team can avoid the injury bug I believe Brady, Evans, and Godwin are going to break records this year.
March 27th, 2021 at 11:00 am
There is a thing in the NFL called “fat cat” syndrome. That’s where the players think they’re so good they can’t get beat. In a warm weather fun town like this, that could easily happen. With Arians experience, I hope he can keep it from happening. There’s got to be a desire to keep this thing going from everyone in the organization.
It’s a great place the Bucs find themselves in. It takes mental toughness to keep it.
March 27th, 2021 at 11:13 am
[Sorry, we’re not starting a flamewar over a Jason Licht story. — Joe]
March 27th, 2021 at 11:27 am
Brady going down is the only thing to stop this bunch from dynasty status.
March 27th, 2021 at 12:07 pm
You’ve got to think that bringing back players is great for morale…..each one of these players probably has multiple friends on the team……
Gronk/Brady
LVD/White
Succop/Pinion (maybe)
Lenny/White
Suh/Vita
Godwin/Evans
Shaq/JPP
(Just guessing on some of the friendships, but you get my point)
March 27th, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Coaching staff staying intact too. Everyone already knows the system.
March 27th, 2021 at 1:49 pm
[Yeah, you did “digress.” Sorry, we’re not starting a flamewar over a Jason Licht story. — Joe]
March 27th, 2021 at 1:54 pm
This team is just different and proves it is a great locker room. The problem with free agency is teams are so comfortable with over paying for other teams players because they aren’t drafting like Jason Licht
If there was no reduced salary cap crazy money would have been thrown at this team just like any other franchise that wins a super bowl. The salary cap issue is the main reason all these guys are back
March 27th, 2021 at 1:56 pm
Keeping your own guys in FA can be highly underrated in the national spotlight and Licht along with the whole front office have done a phenomenal job staying on task. That however does not mean the job is done. As Arians mentioned last night adding “one or two guys” could be critical to the team’s growth and continued success.
March 27th, 2021 at 2:42 pm
[Sorry, we’re not starting a flamewar over a Jason Licht story. — Joe]
March 27th, 2021 at 3:55 pm
Bruce Blalack- yes you are right, not having a high caliber backup is quite a gamble, although I would like to see Ryan Griffin one day. Maybe he’s really good by now.
March 27th, 2021 at 4:02 pm
It’s amazing that we resigned so many of our players, BUT…
I still think our SECONDARY is the weakest link that must be addressed.
Davis/SMB/Dean are not great defensive backs. They were able to do pretty well during the playoff/SB run, but we all saw earlier in the season what happens if Davis gets injured (leaving us even worse off) or if our pass rush has some bad games.
I think we really need to sign a Vet Corner somehow. Drafting one high, even at #32, would be risky since corner seems like the hardest position in football to scout outside of the top 1-3 corners in each draft.
Our only hope is that A) our backs stay healthy and B) maybe they improved enough to be able to play more press-man like they did in the playoffs.
But I still think our secondary is a massive liability that other teams can adjust to and then take advantage of. Heck just look at what WFT did to us in the playoffs with all those yards for Heinecke.
March 27th, 2021 at 4:07 pm
Not a doubt in my mind Dirk was the lead brains behind targeting Jackson. As GM Licht is still responsible but that move had Dirks grubby little fingerprints all over it.
The coaching decisions from those years really hindered Licht. Do you remeber Dirks first order of business? I do….It was a public grandstand to bring back Douglas Martin…….Compare that to Bruces first order of businees to run off McCoy, which i stantly netted us the best run defense in all the land……..Or how about Dirks decision to move Marpet to C? While leaving Benechot to cover the interior? That collosal brainfart added 2 holes to our OL for a staff that didnt develope a singular OLineman there entire tenure.
Speaking of Djax how big of a dumbass does he see when he looks in the mirror? He burnt his Tampa Bay bridge and it cost him a SuperBowl and all the glitz and glam that comes with it…….The best part of it all is that we traded him to Philly and we got Scotty Miller with the draft pick. Scotty has already been a much better Buc then Jackson could ever be. We are pointing and laughing at you Deshawn. Revenge is sweet……..Go take your $$ and buy a steak dinner. We eatin biscuits over here b**ch!!
GO BUCS!!!
*END RANT*
March 27th, 2021 at 6:35 pm
This team’s success began first with changing the HC and then the person under center. Say what you want about DJax, but it’s not that different from AB. If AB had come to a Jameis led offense, do you think there ‘might’ have been issues?!
Anyway, Licht certainly has EARNED the respect he deserves. Heck, one might even forgive the transgressions of the past (cough, cough, Aguayo!!!)!
March 27th, 2021 at 8:29 pm
I so wonder what would trigger a flame war over JL. Dude and MG have built AND kept the best Bucs roster ever. What is there to be instigating about unless that’s all you have to offer to the world? Limited repertoire for some you see