Jason Licht’s Chess Game
March 1st, 2022
General manager Jason Licht
Interesting but meaningless comments this morning from Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht — 13 days and a few hours before the free agency frenzy begins.
Licht is at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis (as is JoeBucsFan.com) and he visited the Good Morning Football crew of NFL Network.
The absence of Tom Brady does not mean a rebuilding season, Licht reiterated. But Licht sort of wavered a little from the win-now drumbeat of the last two seasons.
“We want to win this year. We want to keep an eye on the future. It depends on what the [free agent] market bears,” Licht said, per network reporter Will Selva’s transcription.
So does that mean if the Bucs can’t lock down enough stud free agents (their own or those of other teams), then they’ll roll with Kyle Trask and/or Blaine Gabbert and prepare for a beastly reload in 2023?
Joe realizes Licht and his front office must plan for every option. It’s just hard to stomach what feels like the nuclear option for the 2022 season — going with Trask or Gabbert and not re-signing most of their core free agents.
Of course, it’s safe to say Licht is back in full win-now mode if the Bucs can land any name quarterback with at least some personal or team accomplishments under his belt.
Enjoy The Latest Ira Kaufman Podcast.
March 1st, 2022 at 10:13 am
Well, sooner or later we will have to face reality, everybody can speculate on Watson or Wilson or whatever QB you wanna name….But reality has been always, that the QB market is very hot, that you can’t find and incredible QB on the draft and we pick on 27 position in order to make a trade….
Other teams are much better trading partners than the Bucs……
So, this is reality, we have to go with Trask, or whatever cheap second tier QB is available…..
That doesn’t mean we can have a good season if Licht pulls the strings correctly, via draft and free agency…..Winning the division is something VERY realistic……….
March 1st, 2022 at 10:14 am
Why not lock down our free agents AND go with Trask at QB? None of the free agent QB’s ever took a first snap in an NFL game until they took their first snap in an NFL game. Same thing applies to Brady. They drafted him for a reason, not just to use a draft pick!
March 1st, 2022 at 10:21 am
I agree we should go with Trask this year.
March 1st, 2022 at 10:38 am
Pretty much John, it’s what I’ve been saying. I know that Joe and the others are scared of the word rebuild and Joe believes starting a rookie that hasn’t taken a snap in a game is one of the worst thing that could happen to the Bucs.
We can’t kick the can down the road for a mediocre veteran (they are all mediocre veterans) 9/10 times FA QBs are FA’s for a reason.
It would be best to go with Trask this year then give a bad QB multiple years of guaranteed money to stink. Look at most QB acquisitions last year aside from Stafford.
March 1st, 2022 at 10:47 am
Kicking the can down the road? Can’t we find something better, like – booting the bottle down the boulevard?
March 1st, 2022 at 10:52 am
I’ve never seen the Bucs’ off season more up in the air. So many decisions and choices. I’ll trust this front office – they have made good decisions the past two years. Odds are that they’ll keep that streak going.
March 1st, 2022 at 10:53 am
BA is probably gonna go with the veteran that knows his system like gabbert versus a guy who was fourth on the depth chart last year unless he can beat him outright. I prefer to see what gabbert has first gonna be a jump ball like season get ready evans
March 1st, 2022 at 10:54 am
“The absence of Tom Brady does not mean a rebuilding season, Licht reiterated.”
RFLMAO
March 1st, 2022 at 11:13 am
give trask a shot
March 1st, 2022 at 11:26 am
GM Licht just said in a press conference “we are keeping the light on for Tom Brady”
Interesting comment. It kind of sounds like the Bucs are going to roll with Gabbert/Trask and hope that TB12 changes his mind.
Of course it could also be a smokescreen like most things GMs say this time of year.
March 1st, 2022 at 11:33 am
So, what was it 19 years since winning a playoff game…..13 since playing in one……we win a SB and a playoff game….
And, now….nothing else is good enough?
TBBF wants to win another SB as much as anyone…but get real!!! That ship has sailed when Brady retired.
It’s not doomsday if we win the division and obtain another home playoff game…..
IF we can do that without totally mortgaging our team’s future…..let’s do it.
March 1st, 2022 at 11:37 am
Roll with Trask and either Gabbert or some other slappy to compete with Trask and sign the key cogs not allowing them to get away. This keeps the door open for Brady who will not play for any other team because he does not need to put in the extra off season work to prepare if he stepped back in for the Bucs. Who knows, maybe missing the game coupled with the Bucs leaving him an opening would give him a reason to contemplate coming back for one last season before finishing his career.
March 1st, 2022 at 11:55 am
The right answer is: Don’t pay for an expensive QB that can’t win.
YES: Wilson, Rodgers, Watson
NO: Cousins, Wentz, Bridgewater, Garrop
An expensive mediocre QB does more harm to your cap than good for your team. So, if you cannot get one of The 3, then go with Trask.
March 1st, 2022 at 11:55 am
The only option is to beg Brady,
If not second best is getting Winston. He is the only available QB that can run the bucs offense. You have to assume his turnovers will regress to the mean like all of BA’s QB after their first year in his system. At least with Winston you get a proven QB who can score points and generate offense. Without that you have zero chance with Trask or Gabbert heck why not give Ryan Griffin the keys. Meanwhile no free agent will sign or resign with the bucs and the team is decimated. We might as well just blow the whole thing up and start tanking. This is very sad for a team that had the best record in the league last year.
March 1st, 2022 at 12:18 pm
we gotta at least bring in a qb to save face for the franchise, and compete for the 10 win/win the division chance…
that is a possibility…
going with trask and gabbert and going 5-12 or 4-13 is going to deflate things so badly after tom’s stay…(no pun intended)
ok so if we won’t be great for one year, fine…but let’s not bottom out and kill off basically everything we built here the past couple years…
yes you can reverse the culture back in a heartbeat…or in one lousy season without tom…
gotta be careful not to go there…
#AtLeastMaintainTheCulture
March 1st, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Licht might be full steam ahead, but the team doesn’t look like it is there.
Get Griffin and Gabbert back and have a competition for the starter. Use the rest of the money they have to sign a quality team.
Building a quality team this year will mean leaning on a few draftees. To me that means a rebuild.
If they have a quality team, and none of the QBs works out, sign a QB next year.
I have, though, seen Griffin look like a star in preseason, and I have seen Trask be a comet in college. He turned a horrid Gators team around and set records. I think one of them will be a pleasant surprise.
March 1st, 2022 at 12:24 pm
Stinnie and Jensen and Cappa are really important now. Licht needs to make sure they continue to have a strong O line with Trask or Gabbert starting. Marpets retirement didn’t help. I don’t imagine that he slept well last night.
March 1st, 2022 at 12:27 pm
I was much more interested in the very start where he said “if” we have to move in that direction when question was about moving on from brady
March 1st, 2022 at 12:27 pm
Would rather go 4-13 than 8-9 with a mediocre QB and just be stuck in the middle of the pack not bad enough to get a franchise changing player and not good enough to have a shot at the big game.
March 1st, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Looks like Brady left at the right time.
March 1st, 2022 at 1:48 pm
Win now or not, you don’t break up the best WR duo in the league.
March 1st, 2022 at 6:23 pm
Start Gabbert Then if needed replace with Trask Pretty easy decision for me resign who we can
March 1st, 2022 at 6:25 pm
Losing Marpet really hurts