Jason Licht Says He ”Didn’t Want To Do Anything Crazy”
May 1st, 2021
Bucs GM Jason Licht talks about his lone draft-day trade of 2021
Super Bowl GM Jason Licht talked to Joe and virtually assembled media following the conclusion of today’s Day 3 of the NFL Draft.
Joe was curious about Licht’s one deal.
It came in Round 4, when then Bucs coughed up their fourth-rounder and a 2021 sixth-round pick to vault up eight spots on the board to draft Tom Brady’s new toy, receiver/returner Jaelen Darden out of the University of North Texas.
Licht said his front-office team started the day (Rounds 4 through 7) a little stressed that Darden would slip away.
”We were a little worried about him making it to us at the back end of the fourth,” Licht began. ”So [we] didn’t want to do anything crazy to get all the way up to the top because we wanted to save some of our picks for some of these guys that we targeted and got in the latter part of the draft. But we felt at the time it was right, we were a little worried about a couple of teams in front of us that were looking for returners, or looking for receivers.
”’So, you know, you never know for sure if somebody’s going to take it. I just, Bruce and I and our staff just felt he was the type of guy that was worth spending an extra draft pick to go up and get. We’ve had that feeling about a few guys over the years and most of them have worked out.”
How fun would it be if Darden is a stud returner, and many rookies have thrived in that role over the years. Good for Licht for getting after it at that position, which is more evidence of the veteran roster strength. Yes, Joe expects the Bucs to field a load of punts this season.
May 1st, 2021 at 7:49 pm
overall the draft seems pretty solid…filling needs…
i wouldn’t say we killed it out there in cleveland…
but we did pretty okay it seems
May 1st, 2021 at 8:01 pm
i am not sure what to think of the rest 8f the draft,
but the 2nd Round QB was as much of a wasted pick,
as drafting this Kicker guy in the 2nd round back then
just horrible
unexplainable to me,
and i am willing to bet 1000 Dollars, that this Hurtz(?)
guy will end up being a total bust
@everyone who will say sth. like “the Bucs know better than you”
well, then lets have a bet, because i am sure as hell i am right
because i will be god damn right
in the past, i have always had more clue on who to draft, than
the clueless Bucs FrontOffice
its simply a fact
May 1st, 2021 at 8:06 pm
hahahaha
“didnt want to do sth crazy” (?!)
well,
then why the heck did he draft QB in the 2nd round,
who should have been drafted in the rounds 6-7 if at all
typical-BS-stupid-Pick by the Bucs
Licht is so awfull at drafting, in fact:
in the past i would have done a way better job,
and this year again
smh
May 1st, 2021 at 8:09 pm
Wasn’t on board with the Darden pick. Would have stayed put & drafted the Gowan from UCF. But thats just me. Hope Darden does well.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:25 pm
thanks Joe for this update, shows us that Darden was targeted
Makes me have even more confidence in this pick
May 1st, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Im ok with draft.
Only issue was taking hainsey when we could have taken manbeast Quinn Meinerz. But again i get hainsey pick. He will be swing tackle for Haeg. And can play all spots
May 1st, 2021 at 8:33 pm
Man how much longer do yall think Brady is playing? I think Brady told them that he’s not playing much longer. I believe they wouldn’t have drafted a quarterback if Brady was playing 3 or 4 more years . I think this is the last run for Brady in my opinion.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:36 pm
Louden…trolling account? Trask was seen as a potential 1st rounder. If you knew anything about the draft you’d know that. What sort of a true, long-suffering Buc fan is criticizing this front office right now. What a sad perspective, not to just think it, but to express it online over and over.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:36 pm
The rumors were all week that the Bucs were going to draft a QB. Not sure why everyone was so shocked.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:43 pm
louden is back. He’s still a downer and he’s still probably wrong, but that’s what makes louden…louden
Trask will be fine.
With the ability of punters to kick it high, the speed on ST’s and the leagues efforts to reduce massive hits, the return game is going the way of the dinosaurs.
We brought all our starters back, this draft was all about future and a few depth pieces.
In BA I Trust!
May 1st, 2021 at 8:46 pm
@JOE
You allowing peps to say GD @louden on your site now???
Well F U Joe
May 1st, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Oh and your gonna not let me post for calling out that BS???
May 1st, 2021 at 8:48 pm
F U got me moderated but not GD??? All I was say way Fabulous Urine
May 1st, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Drafting a QB in the 2nd round was crazy.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:53 pm
World Champions, loaded roster and ” Hey I am right and the J Licht and company are Idiots” You cant make this up. Lololololo!!!! GO J LICHT GO BUCS!!!!
May 1st, 2021 at 8:59 pm
So enjoyable to read an article with Tom “Mr. 7 Rings” Brady mentioned in it and no diatribe of adjectives to fill the void of nothing note worthy 👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🤣
May 1st, 2021 at 9:01 pm
They gained tremendous quality on special teams with this draft. Added a potential returners & gunners.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:04 pm
The Bucs are gonna give Trask a shot to start once Brady leaves. He’s better than Rosen might as well see how it goes.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:05 pm
Yeah drafting a qb to sit and learn and possibly be the future of our team. Now that’s just stupid in the second round. What is wrong with you fans. This draft was all about special teams and filling future voids
We might have drafted JPP, BRadys,and jensens replacement. They get to sit and learn and our first rounder gets to be a situational pass rusher. The team will benefit greatly from this draft. But you so called fans live in the moment and wanted a running back from your favorite team who you thought would be a stud. But in reality would get the same amount of snaps as Vaughn did last year. This was as good as a draft as you could hope for. If trask pans out we got a stud qb in round 2 last pick at that. And if he doesn’t we only used a 2nd round pick last pick at that to find out. Instant result fans won’t love this draft. But realistic fans really understand every pick and why. And it couldn’t have went better if you ask me.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:21 pm
@Jeffbuc
Tampa………………………………………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bay………………………….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Little League????)
Signed, Ant
May 1st, 2021 at 9:36 pm
Good draft for the Bucs. Hurt feelings from armchair GM,s who have no skin in the game don’t count for much from where I sit. If they knew football like they think they do, they wouldn’t be commenting on a football blog. They would be in the war room of an NFL team. Lots of guys guys can type BS when it costs nothing. To have to make picks when your job depends on it is a separate beast. The silliness that the draft brings out is fun to watch! It would be interesting to me to see what kind of jobs these guys dumping on Licht and his coaches hold in the real world with some of the comments being made. I will trust the professionals to make the calls on the positions they want filled over bloggers thank you. Licht address the areas that the Bucs felt needed to be addressed with the guys they graded out. Period. GO BUCS!
May 1st, 2021 at 9:39 pm
Man, you folks need to pump the brakes. This was a draft. It’s not the starting lineup. No one knows how JL’s picks will pan out. A lot of time, training, and coaching to go before we can tell what kind of draft we had. One thing is for sure. For the 1st time in a very, very, long time, rookies will be coming into an organization with a winning mentality. That alone should help the development of some of these players. So let’s chill, enjoy the preseason, and hope for a SB repeat. We can revisit the draft when the Bucs pare down the roster to 53 and finalize their practice squad.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:40 pm
When should we have drafted a QB? Was it 1st round when we would have drafted the same guy or was it 3rd round when all of the 2nd tier guys were gone. We needed a QB unless people were depending on Blaine Gabbert or Ryan Griffin. We know what those guys can or can’t do, let’s see what Trask can do.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:43 pm
Louden:
“It’s a fact.”
No–it’s the definition of an opinion. And betting on the draft is stupid because stats tell us that most picks don’t pan out…and what exactly is your sliding scale of “successful” draft picks? They could be serviceable and not make the pro-bowl and you could say “see–I was right!”
Are you new to how football works?
I’m not overly thrilled with the Trask pick–but you’re right, we’re all looking at you and saying. “the Super Bowl winning Bucs know better than you.” Because they do.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:46 pm
No doubt the Bucs will have a stronger roster when the season kicks off!
Making it through the 17 game gauntlet with all the twists and turns is an entirely different matter.
The players union needs to push for a expanded roster by 4 and do away with the game day active list .
17 games and then post season is brutal!
May 1st, 2021 at 9:52 pm
NPR Bucs and Bucs 50 are both right about the draft.
May 1st, 2021 at 10:02 pm
Bucs Guy, you think you work in the front office and know it all anyway. Remember you saying we are not drafting a QB tonight? And 1 pick from being in the 3rd round? Oh you poor baby. Still crying about now? You are worse than DinggleBerry and the 1st pick!!
May 1st, 2021 at 10:15 pm
Bucs get a B+… next year when they pick 32nd again they will pick up interior lineman and some speed at corner maybe a couple lockdowns. The NFC south got better in this draft and the Bucs get a B+, the saints a C, the Panthers B, the Falcons C+. Congrats to the 2020 NFL Super Bowl Champions!
May 1st, 2021 at 10:16 pm
For those that didn’t like this pick, Brown won’t be on the team long. So getting a speedy slot guy for the future is a good thing. But mostly it’s about him being a return guy, the other stuff would be a bonus.
As good as this defense could be, like Joe said, they’ll be getting a lot of punts so this could end up being a great move.
And all they gave up was a sixth rounder.
I expect him to play.
I expect Tryon to be in a pass rush rotation.
I expect the Notre Dame lineman to get some playing time.
I think the oldest guy on the line is Jensen and he’s only signed one more year I believe. As versatile as Hainsey showed at the senior bowl, I would not be surprised if they work him at center
May 1st, 2021 at 10:16 pm
The Bucs techinally didnt need a QB but the fact they took Trask tells me they have confidence he is good enough to succeed Brady.
Trask has a long way to go til that day comes and when it is time Trask gives us an extra option. More options is a good thing with a position as important as QB.
May 1st, 2021 at 10:20 pm
Bucs breath—
Carlton Davis is a lock down corner. He is about to emerge as a top-five corner in the league. As far as cornerbacks with speed, one of the fastest ones around is Dean. SMB and him are still developing.
I do expect them to take another one next year though. The main targets next year has to be DT since Suh is 34 this year and Gholston is 30.
Depending on how they resign Rojo and or Lenny, running back will be in the mix to be drafted next year. This year there were three and that’s about it. Next year should be normal we’re running back is deep and you can find good ones in round two through four
May 1st, 2021 at 10:38 pm
the only crazy thing mr licht could have done today is bust out the ole burgundy sports coat and squeeze on into it…
word on the streets is the pockets are filled with heaps of old pistachio shells too
🙂
#BossLichtIsLookingGoodInBlue
May 1st, 2021 at 10:56 pm
We just won the Super Bowl and pretty handedly, beating the Saints, Packers & Chiefs. Ran the Guantlet and brought back 22 starters. There wasn’t anything Licht could do in this draft to hurt the team. Special teams has been their weakest link and they addressed that with 4 picks. I like our chances
May 1st, 2021 at 11:29 pm
I don’t get the hate on taking a QB. He has a year to show he can take over after Brady. If he shows promise, great, he can continue to ride the bench until Brady retires. If he doesn’t show promise, then we can draft another QB next year. If we waited until next year, that QB may or may not work out. Going this route doubles the probability of success.
May 1st, 2021 at 11:33 pm
None of the QB’s taken ahead of Trask are guaranteed to make an impact in the NFL. And the one’s taken early will almost certainly be thrown into the deep end of the pool very soon. This puts a ton of stress on players that might do better learning from the sidelines for at least a year. I wanted a QB that will learn from Brady and be ready when he retires. As much as I have yelled about JL in the past, he’s gotten us to the mountain top.
May 2nd, 2021 at 8:01 am
“louden” is either a complete Idiot or a troll and definitely not a BUCS fan . Who the hell is “Hurtz” ? We drafted Kyle Trask and I love that pick . He’s a Brady style QB , not much of a runner but moves around well in the pocket and is very accurate with his throws . In the meantime “louden” needs to come out of the closet and admit that he’s (or she) is actually a Saints , Falcons or Panthers fan .
May 2nd, 2021 at 8:39 am
“GoFor2” , agreed indeed . Trask has the exact same style of play that TB12 has and he’ll have a year or two to learn from the BEST . Trask will be MORE than ready to “take the reigns” when Brady finally retires . There’s no pressure on him right now , just sit back and learn . GO BUCS !!!!
May 2nd, 2021 at 9:23 am
Louden your a moron and quit using the lords name in vain
May 2nd, 2021 at 10:37 am
Louden, are you arguing with yourself?
May 2nd, 2021 at 11:05 am
Wasn’t TB12 a SIXTH round draft pick? If I recall correctly, the last QB Bucs took with the #1 pick in the draft ended up a B-U-S-T! So, what’s with all the howling and complaining?? Didn’t the Bucs make NFL history earlier this year by being the first team to win a SB in their home stadium? You yahoos need to get lost. You weren’t around back in the Dark Ages known as being a Bucs fan in the 1980s.