Former Patriots Suit Suggests If Bucs And Patriots Discussed A Mac Jones Trade, Jason Licht Made The Phone Call
April 10th, 2023
Quarterback drama.
So last week Joe brought word of the report that Patriots strongman Bill Belicheat “shopped” his starting quarterback, former first-round pick Mac Jones, to four teams. And one was Tampa Bay.
The story broke from the creator, curator and overall guru of Pro Football Talk, the great Mike Florio. And Joe trusts Florio implicitly.
A former coffee fetcher for Belicheat, former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, took to his podcast “GM Shuffle” recently and vehemently denied Belicheat was shopping Jones. Instead, Lombardi is convinced the four teams called Belicheat wanting Jones.
One reason Lombardi strongly believes Belicheat didn’t call the Bucs (and the other three teams: Houston, Las Vegas and Washington) was that word would immediately leak and Belicheat loathes his conversations made public.
“First of all, he’s the most secretive person in the league,” said Lombardi, who twice worked for Belicheat (once in Cleveland and later in New England). “He’s not going to tell you anything he’s doing; even some people in the organization don’t know.”
Lombardi explained he fully believes Florio’s report but adamant Belicheat did not initiate any trade talks.
“Now, can [Belicheat] stop somebody from asking? Of course not!” Lombardi said. “If I called Andy Reid and said, ‘Are you going to trade Pat Mahomes?’ He’s going to say, ‘No.’ Right? Does that mean he’s shopping Pat Mahomes? Of course not!
So, if Belicheat did not call Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, and Lombardi believes the crux of Florio’s report quite possibly happened, then that means Licht called Belicheat asking if Jones was available.
What has never been reported to Joe’s knowledge is when the alleged talks took place, other than this “offseason.” Joe sure would like to know when. Before the Baker Mayfield signing?
Was Lombardi just carrying Belicheat’s water (for his friend) when he defended his old boss on the podcast? Joe wouldn’t rule it out.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:04 am
I can see Licht calling Belichick.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:09 am
Jason is not a great evaluator of QBs, he had the greatest fall in his lap
April 10th, 2023 at 8:11 am
Or nobody called anybody.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:25 am
Lomdarduh is wrong most of the time, why would this time be any different.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:25 am
Why is anybody getting excited about Mac Jones?
April 10th, 2023 at 8:33 am
Uh ok so Mac isn’t even better than baker. This must have been a conversation before we got baker. Who would give up draft capital for him though?
April 10th, 2023 at 8:38 am
Why on earth would JBF trust5 Mike Florio? Wasn’t he the guy who declared that Tom Brady wanted to retire only so that he could go play for the 49ers? How did work out? That’s only one of the legions of ridiculousness that Florio has published in recent years. No reason to trust anything he emits.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:45 am
Funny how that was reported on or near April fool’s day and how quick it grew legs. According to Gronk it never happened.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:51 am
Mac Jones is way better than Baker Mayfield. Those saying the opposite have never understood the game of football, but just watch it for quick thrills. Baker’s best season as a QB, on an excellent roster, is still quite mediocre where it always looked like some points and plays were left on the field. Mac Jones on the other hand has limitations based on his arm strength and scrambling ability, but he is constantly making the right reads and most importantly, routinely makes tight window throws with ultra precision, because his WRs in NFL have always been average. Put him on a talented offense like the Lions or Vikings and I believe he will easily match the performance of Cousins or Goff. Baker looked putrid with Carolina when they were looking at him as their guy. Panthers has McCaffrey, DJ Moore, Terrence Marshall, Robbie Anderson and a above average O-line. Darnold outplayed Baker by a mile, which is why the Panthers were content letting Baker go.
April 10th, 2023 at 8:52 am
Who called who is de news???
Jesus Christ, there is nothing more interesting tham this?
April 10th, 2023 at 8:59 am
👆What Duane said! 👍 Florio loves a reactionary take true or not. Also not impressed with his opinions about athletes and vaccine choices. Florio has risen to the position of a main stream media stooge by virtue of being a genuine stooge.
April 10th, 2023 at 9:02 am
Who cares.
April 10th, 2023 at 9:08 am
Joe does!
(You cared enough to comment. 🙂 )
April 10th, 2023 at 9:10 am
TBBF didn’t call either of them.
April 10th, 2023 at 9:12 am
My favorite Florio story is Brady undermining the NFLPA because he was practicing with Bucs players at a High School during Covid.
April 10th, 2023 at 9:24 am
Dusthty Rhothdes Says
“Jason is not a great evaluator of QBs, he had the greatest fall in his lap”
More like he went out and got him. Pursued him. Brady hardly fell.
April 10th, 2023 at 9:25 am
stpetebucfan Says:
April 10th, 2023 at 8:25 am
“Why is anybody getting excited about Mac Jones?”
Because we have Baker Mayfield, and even though they deny it, everyone knows where that will lead.
April 10th, 2023 at 10:01 am
You still on” belicheat “?! 😂😂😂
April 10th, 2023 at 10:03 am
I Bet you wanna be a skip bayless water boy😉😂
April 10th, 2023 at 10:08 am
who calls him belicheat as if its 2010?! 😏And What do you call brady?! something is wrong with you dude.just report the damn news .sarcasm is not ur forte .Trust me ,you are not that guy pal.Nobody is lauging with you
April 10th, 2023 at 10:15 am
Let’s say Jason called Bill. That would still leave 3 other teams where discussions were held per the initial report, what of them? Whole thing seems fishy
April 10th, 2023 at 10:26 am
NFL owners, coaches and GMs spew out more lies than FOX news. Even tom brady said he lies 95% of the time to the press. So, just ignore everything you hear.
April 10th, 2023 at 10:31 am
@Dusthty Rhothdes
Most GMs in the NFL are not great at evaluating QBs which is why it’s such a crapshoot.
April 10th, 2023 at 10:40 am
No to Jones.
He is like Brady athleticism though 20 years younger. Except he didn’t have Brady’s ability to play quarter back.
Jones is best in a system where you have a good line and running game and can manage games.
Not what we need. Would rather draft Hooker with that pick and let him develop this year on the bench while he recovers from his knee surgery.
April 10th, 2023 at 10:52 am
Florio has all the credibiliy of my local Seven Eleven cashier and she only speaks Thai.
April 10th, 2023 at 11:07 am
What has Mac Jones done to make him a coveted player by anyone? This is either a total fabrication or it’s the cover story Belicheat’s sycophants have been given to cover the leak of information from NE.
April 10th, 2023 at 11:27 am
How much are you even willing to give up for Mac Jones? I mean, he’s better than Trask, probably, but I wouldn’t give up more than a 2nd rounder for him. Glad that one didn’t happen.
April 10th, 2023 at 11:44 am
What kind of clown writes this article? Have respect! Referring to him multiple times as “belicheat” this man has accomplished more in a season than you have in your entire miserable existence Joe Bucs fan! I’m sure you are like the rest of the Bucs fans also just a bunch of bandwagon jumpers! Get lost you half wit loser
April 10th, 2023 at 12:17 pm
Seems we have a couple newcomers to this site. For the two above complaining about Joe’s writing style, I said these same things about the dumb monikers years ago. Joe didn’t change when I bitched about it, I’m sure he’s not going to change his style for you either. Get over it, or like Joe says, you don’t have to come here for your Bucs news.
April 10th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
Thank you Tim for your support. 👍
April 10th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht title is getting old! Just say general manager Jason Licht. Everyone loves AC/DC it is not a rare thing!
April 10th, 2023 at 4:56 pm
Belicheat is just our JBF tradition. So is ACDC loving JL. It’s just fun.
April 10th, 2023 at 6:23 pm
And Joe trusts Florio implicitly. LOL.
April 11th, 2023 at 10:18 am
Mike Florio did qualify his report with regard to Bill Belichick’s motive for making the calls; saying, words to the effect (paraphrase): “Maybe Bill Belichick made the calls to these various teams to demonstrate to Mac Jones that no one’s interested in him as a quarterback for their team. So, (saying to Mac Jones) get back to work (for the Patriots).”
It easily seems like something that happened. IMO, you can’t look at this as if it’s “the Belichick” of the Brady era. This is the Belichick of the Cam Newton and Mac Jones era: far, far different circumstances and pressures.
April 11th, 2023 at 11:16 am
How do you block this add clown. Did I make the 2nd person read this bull. Stay with the BUCS who will suck again for fifty years.Maybe try high school food ball Jobblow