Eight Rookies With Significant Snaps
December 18th, 2023
Bucs GM Jason Licht.
Joe has to give another standing ovation to Buccaneers general Jason Licht.
He’s in the midst of doing what the great GMs do.
Licht is transitioning successfully from one era to the next without dragging fans through a horrifically lean year and a painful holiday season. And Licht has done it under extreme conditions. He entered the offseason with no salary cap room and was moving on from a quality 2022 quarterback who was the team leader.
And here the Bucs are at 7-7.
How many teams legitimately are better than Tampa Bay in the NFC? Joe would put that number at four. FOUR!
To kick the Licht love up a notch, Joe will note the Bucs got significant snaps from eight rookies yesterday in their thrilling win at Green Bay. And that’s Joe’s definition of significant. Those weren’t the only rookies on the field.
If the Bucs manage to finish with a winning record, Joe thinks Licht should be in consideration for the coveted NFL Executive of the Year award. He won’t win it, but he certainly should be in the conversation. What GM has had that much in-season success with $70 million+ in dead salary cap, as in money they couldn’t spend?
Joe maintains that if the Bucs finish with a winning season, Licht deserves a fast track to the Buccaneers Ring of Honor for his 10-year body of work.
December 18th, 2023 at 11:05 am
We’re very lucky to have him!
December 18th, 2023 at 11:09 am
Light’s drafted 4 potential HOF players and signed a few others as free agents in his 10 years in Tampa. How many other GMs can say that?
December 18th, 2023 at 11:11 am
Need to find another picture Joe this one makes him look like a doofus!
December 18th, 2023 at 11:13 am
Amen!
December 18th, 2023 at 11:18 am
He could win it…if we go to the Superbowl 😛
7-7
How many games from now to the Superbowl? If it’s 4…7-7-7 is the Lord’s number 😉
December 18th, 2023 at 11:23 am
I would rather have Licht than just about anyone else at this point.
He has made it from the BOTTOM to the TOP and he knows football.
Especially the O Line which is 1 of 2 most important groups IMO.
Keep bringing in the trenches in round 1.
That’s championship football.
Just please Please, PLEASE do not reach.
December 18th, 2023 at 11:30 am
But, according to some posters, he’s terrible and has to go. 🙄
December 18th, 2023 at 11:36 am
He’s done a very good job in particular with the draft…….many mid and later round picks performing here or elsewhere.
Busts with OJ Howard, JTS and a couple of others but big hits with Wirfs, Winfield, Evans, Vea, Godwin……maybe Kancey, Mauch, Goedeke
Liking later round picks, Camarda, Otton, Palmer
December 18th, 2023 at 11:37 am
So many people been bashing Licht this season cause of Bowles and his lack of success as the predecessor of arians. Picking Devin White when Josh Allen was there still available, etc. He’s a great GM who went all out for us fans with Brady and company and it paid off with the Super Bowl win. He knows what he’s doing although I hope he knows he still needs a new coach lol
December 18th, 2023 at 11:47 am
Licht is solid.
I said this off-season – “if the Bucs find a way to win the NFC South this year our GM deserves major props”.
This team isn’t great but it is competitive and with only $148M to spend on the roster. That is a pretty impressive feat…
Well done.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
When are posters on this site going to acknowledge that the Buccaneers have exceeded expectations. They beat the Las Vegas number, virtually nobody outside Tampa thought the Buccaneers would win more than five games, and many posters routinely refer to the team and it’s quarterback as trash.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:19 pm
Great article Joe. The GM, HC, QB are all easy targets to blame. It’s intellectually lazy to place any blame on Licht or Mayfield. Bowles? Maybe some credence to place blame but to the team’s credit they decided to play for him these past 3 weeks. A HC regardless of sport is a leader of men and/or women. Posses those skills and the HC succeeds. Bowles is a good man with a great football mind. His team showed that they believe in him by winning 3 weeks in a row after playing awful the previous few weeks.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:24 pm
I absolutely agree!
December 18th, 2023 at 12:26 pm
Jason Licht is still below average.
Winning this division means NOTHING.
Nothing. Win a playoff game…I’ll give him props then.
But outside of Brady, Licht has done jack squat.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
When he resigns Baker and keep Bowles and we suck next year…I expect you all to to biotching up a storm.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Can’t wait until he gets to do a legitimate coaching search and get the guy who’s going to coach this team for the next 20 years.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:39 pm
The Glazers could have done the same as the Saints did and continued to throw money at rebuilding the team after Brady era, but they CHOSE not to spend saving the cap and their pocket and yes J. Licht filled MANY MANY HOLES with cheaper late round rookies. THE REAL PRAISE BELONGS TO TODD BOWLES FOR MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF WHAT HE WAS GIVEN TO WORK WITH! In my view if ANYBODY deserves recognition for keeping this Bucs train on track its Todd Bowles PERIOD!!
December 18th, 2023 at 12:41 pm
Optimisticbucsfan, more like pessimistic Bucs fan. We have our best GM in team history and you choose to be the exact opposite of your username. You’re probably a blast at parties.
Go Bucs, Go Licht, let’s go get us another playoff win.
December 18th, 2023 at 12:46 pm
@bucs1995 – yeah, because I think Jason Licht stinks that means my whole personal life is just me kicking dogs and yelling at clouds? GTFO. SMDH. Duemig would call you something and I would agree with him 100%. The bar is so low here. Sad stuff. Remove the Brady years and Licht is a huge loser. That was a once in a lifetime lotto ticket that Jason isn’t going to hit again. Ever.
December 18th, 2023 at 1:43 pm
Listen I’m all for good Bucs football which is what we watched yesterday. Lets repeat that and finish the season strong.
My knock against Licht is his teams do not have an identity. There have been a lot of missed shots at secondary, the D line, RB and speed WR but it has never panned out. Has he finally found something with this last class?
December 18th, 2023 at 1:54 pm
The only move that Licht has EVER made that has had a true impact is signing Tom Brady. While he has presided over drafting some good players (and duds), the team has been bad in each year since his arrival in 2014. Outside of the Brady years, the team has only been over .500 ONE TIME since he’s been here. (And that was just 9-7.)
December 18th, 2023 at 2:05 pm
@optimisticbucsfan… Brady isn’t here this year, heading towards a winning record. That was kind of the point of the article. Licht has made good moves in FA and the draft with limited cap space. He built the team that lured Tom. He drafted Wirfs and Winfield, Brady and the Bucs possibly don’t win that SB if Licht doesn’t pick those guys.
What are we talking about here? Deleting part of a GMs resume? Bears pick Mahomes instead of Trubisky, Brett Veach and the Chiefs are huge losers.
December 18th, 2023 at 2:21 pm
Licht hasn’t had a winning season without Brady. Well Licht signed Brady, doing his job well I’d say. Half the league probably don’t have more than 2 winning seasons in the last 10. You don’t win in this league without a high end QB or a high end roster with an average to above average QB.
High end QBs don’t grow on trees. Ask the Jets, Bears, Cardinals, Vikings, any team in our division, how easy it is to find the right personnel for a winning season let alone a SB season and multiple division titles. 3 of the winningest QBs in league right now were passed on by the entire NFL at least once. Lamar, Hurts, Purdy. You think a new GM is going to come in and do a better job than Licht, when the evidence around the league says most of these guys are poorly throwing darts?
December 18th, 2023 at 2:46 pm
Rookies and young players are showing up well. Kudos to Licht. He brought in some “youngry” talent. 😏
December 18th, 2023 at 3:04 pm
Things are not that bad give the spending limitations. The job is not done yet.
December 18th, 2023 at 3:07 pm
Can someone define the Bucs identity in the years J Licht has controlled the roster? Shut down Corners, Dominate D Line, Strong Running Game, Take the top off team speed?
December 18th, 2023 at 3:26 pm
7-7 with no money to spend, a bottom feeder HC, rookie OC and an average QB. Not bad
December 18th, 2023 at 5:01 pm
It was $75M over the cap to start the season – not $70M….
Think about that for a second.
$75M in free agency buys you 2 high end to superstar type players and another 3 or 4 good to very good starters.
Thats like 30% of the Bucs starting roster that could have been significantly upgraded if that $ had not already been spent during the Brady era….
How much better would this team be right now if Licht had had the $ available to go shopping for a higher end Safety, TE, RB, LG and Center?
December 18th, 2023 at 5:57 pm
Its seems to me that some people seem to not understand how management structure works, GM gives the coach tools to use, the coach is responsible for utilizing said tools to show results. Lich has given our team many top caliber tools, and coaching hasn’t done thier job. Lich isn’t responsible for development or play calling, so to say Lich hasn’t done anything is not only wrong, but just plain dumb.
December 18th, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Going into this 2023 season please SOMEBODY ANYBODY list those high caliber tools JL has provided this coaching staff to utilize!!
December 18th, 2023 at 8:59 pm
RBUC … ‘THE REAL PRAISE BELONGS TO TODD BOWLES FOR MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF WHAT HE WAS GIVEN TO WORK WITH! In my view if ANYBODY deserves recognition for keeping this Bucs train on track its Todd Bowles PERIOD!!’
I agree with you about Todd Bowles deserving a lot more credit for getting this team to 7-7 than he’s being given, but winning is always a collaborative effort. Who’s more important, the guy who stocks the pantry or the guy who cooks the meal? Hard to have a good meal without BOTH of them doing their job, and doing it quite well.
December 18th, 2023 at 10:09 pm
So Joe Tryon and Logan Hall would be Pro Bowlers on any other team? V Hargreaves ? Y’all sayin T Wirfs and Winfield would have sucked if drafted by a different team? You can’t say the coaches are at fault when Lichts picks suck without giving the same coaches CREDIT for players succeed. Licht has had some great picks but also some dogs ! 6 years in not 1 legitimate pass rusher. DL is average at best.
December 18th, 2023 at 11:37 pm
JTS and Hall look like busts. (JTS for sure)
Kancey and Diaby look good.
That’s really the only d-lineman that he’s drafted. Oh yea and Noah Spence- who was flashing as a rookie and getting sacks before he got injured and never came back from it.
Licht was also responsible for signing / trading for JPP, Suh and Shaq.
He’s obviously had some FA misses too. As all GMs do.
He’s still a top-10 GM in this league. Has drafted a lot of talent, but yes d line and RB don’t seem to be his specialty.
December 19th, 2023 at 2:18 am
2024 OFF-SEASON IS KEY
Licht is already the greatest GM in Bucs history.
Coach: Arians
FA: TB12, Gronk, Suh, JPP
Draft: Evans, Wirfs, Winfield
Results: 2xNFCS, 1xSuper Bowl
This offseason could be tricky. I can’t wait to see what he does.