Winning With Jason Licht (Part II): “The Change Of Scenery List”
February 25th, 2025
Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett (left) with Jason Pierre-Paul.
It’s Part II of Joe’s look at how Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht transformed the Bucs into a Super Bowl winner and a lasting contender.
So in the bowels of One Buc Palace sits a “change of scenery list.”
Licht and his team identify and break down capable players around the NFL that now have new head coaches or general managers and probably could thrive with a fresh start in a new city. You know, “a change of scenery.”
This could even be a player about to deal with a new coordinator that might not want him.
Back in 2018, the Bucs took a long hard look at trading with the Raiders for monster edge rusher Khali Mack, former Bucs assistant GM John Spytek told JoeBucsFan.com.
However, Licht moved in a different direction. He focused his sights on Giants edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul and made a trade that changed Bucs history.
JPP had just completed a full season for the first time since blowing off his hand in a notorious 2015 fireworks accident. He didn’t look like the same player he used to be, but he was a ferocious attack dog hungry to dominate.
JPP had a nasty edge and would help re-brand the Bucs into the tough-guy team they would soon become. Dealing for him was strategic and similar to the move the Bucs made to sign the man Licht made the NFL’s highest paid center a few weeks earlier.
“He just made a lot of sense to us,” Spytek said of the decision to pursue Pierre-Paul in an offseason that saw quality edge rushers relocate.
The Bucs, per Spytek, were a little stunned when they called the Giants and found a team eager to move quickly.
How savvy was the play by Licht? It seems no other team was chasing JPP.
“We kind of got the sense that like nobody else had called on him,” Spytek recalled. “It was just kind of us after brainstorming, “Who would make sense?” It’s not big of a list: guys that would make sense and guys that you would actually be excited to get. It’s not just call and ask for the third- or fourth-best rusher on these teams with new GMs or head coaches.”
“We got the player we thought we would, a tone-setter, he didn’t take sh*t from anybody. … Relentless.”
It was without a doubt the best trade of the Jason Licht era, Spytek said.
The Bucs coughed up a third-round pick for JPP and watched him be a key cog in their Super Bowl win three seasons later.
The trade for Rob Gronkowski was too easy, relatively speaking, per Spytek, and the Tristan Wirfs trade wasn’t quite as special as the planning and the move to bring in JPP.
Spytek also lauded another trade that became a key to the Bucs’ Super Bowl win and a symbol of Licht’s greatness. Joe will attack that in Part III.
February 25th, 2025 at 1:30 am
Jensen, JPP andSuh brought a much needed toughness (and vet credibility) to the team, which in turn made guys like Brady, Gronk, etc want to sign here (and having Evans and Godwin of course)
February 25th, 2025 at 1:41 am
Bringing in Jensen, JPP & Suh were all great moves that changed the Bucs’ culture. The real question in my mind is what moves in 2025 will achieve the same result, most particularly on the defensive side of the ball?
February 25th, 2025 at 2:09 am
If they’re gonna go after somebody similar in a trade then I think that might be somebody like Crosby or Hendrickson. Garrett is gonna cost more. Sweat could work, too!
February 25th, 2025 at 2:10 am
JUST BEING BACK JPP & SUH. THEY’RE FAs.
February 25th, 2025 at 5:03 am
Hendrickson is the play. Doubt Spytek will trade Crosby without the Bucs backing up the Brinks truck. Same for Garrett. Bengals are more likely to deal Given the big money they will have to pay their WRs. They need to get younger and cheaper at other positions. I would be good with trading Bucs 1st rd pick for him. Maybe include Dean and get a pick back
February 25th, 2025 at 6:39 am
Solid!
February 25th, 2025 at 6:53 am
Love this series. Hope to read several more.
February 25th, 2025 at 7:10 am
Mack would have involved #1(s) Jason just don’t go there
February 25th, 2025 at 7:34 am
JPP was a DOG. It really helped that he also went to USF and is from Deerfield Beach. A Florida man
February 25th, 2025 at 7:46 am
Suh is in shape and ready to play-Sign Him!!!!
February 25th, 2025 at 7:52 am
Great background story Joe! Now you are writing real nuggets. You have learn from Ira. Good job grasshopper!
February 25th, 2025 at 8:18 am
Mack is a HOF’er and ready to sign. Mack should be a priority in free agency for Bucs.
February 25th, 2025 at 8:28 am
I highly doubt they are giving up a #1 for anybody. This team still has major holes it needs to fill in the draft. If I had to guess it would be a lesser-known player riding the bench waiting for their chance to shine. Very few big names out there who aren’t damaged goods. Let’s see what Licht has up his sleeve. Most likely something we haven’t even thought of.
February 25th, 2025 at 8:38 am
Can’t ever forget Suh and his strengths. He helped Vea a lot with their workouts too.
February 25th, 2025 at 8:46 am
The hiring of BA was the ultimate coup de gras .
February 25th, 2025 at 10:01 am
Midway through the 2019 season is when I saw a difference in the Bucs. Even in the games that we did not win in the 2nd half of the season, you could see that most of the games both the Bucs offensive line and defensive line were winning the line of scrimmage.
What it had been over 15 years since we could say that on a regular basis. That change is still part of the culture of this current football team.
Glad, we changed that… whether Licht, Arians, Spytek or Bowles.
February 25th, 2025 at 10:17 am
JL and his front office team have done a spectacular job. The offense is in great shape now! It’s time to use their magic to rebuild the defense, once more! Get it done!
February 25th, 2025 at 10:45 am
Micah Parsons has a new coach. jus sayin
February 25th, 2025 at 11:00 am
This is fully unrelated but I thought I would throw it out there, I just read an article on NFL.com reading the teams in the NFL that would be hit hardest by free agency this offseason. Number two on the list (of 6 teams) is Atlanta falcons, they are set to lose a ton of guys and don’t have this cap space to deal with it. Plus, Kirk Cousins is either going to be the most expensive backup in the league or they cut them and take a huge hit. An honorable mention (of 2) on that list is the New Orleans Saints. Neither team has enough camp space to try and keep a lot of primary talent. And Carolina? They have a lot of really accurate, flawless drafting to do and free agents to acquire, but they could end up being our biggest div rival next season. Am I reveling in the misfortune and sorrows of two of our division rivals?
YES I AM!
February 25th, 2025 at 11:50 am
A key component of the JPP trade was the Giants were switching to a 3-4 defense from a 4-3 and they didn’t think JPP would be as effective a pass rusher in that format. So the Bucs got him in a steal for a third round and put him in the 4-3 where he more than excelled as he also picked off two passes along with the huge amount of sacks. Thanks Giants.
February 25th, 2025 at 12:57 pm
… JPP picked off those passes with a partial hand. We have players that are actually in the secondary with 2 whole, fully functional hands that have trouble with that.
February 25th, 2025 at 1:57 pm
heyjude Says:
good post “Heyjude”. If Suh is in shape and wants to still play. I say send him a invite to Camp. He spent the last couple of off seasons helping others get in shape. Maybe he still has gas in his tank and could help as a spot player or more, here in Tampa. Let’s give a make the final 53 man roster offer and see where that goes. No harm, no shame.
February 25th, 2025 at 3:09 pm
@drdneastup – You are correct about the Giants, but the Bucs were also switching to a 3-4 as it was the first year Bowles was DC.
JPP said he could play in either, and to our benefit, the Giants weren’t so sure about his claim. Looks like he was correct.
February 25th, 2025 at 3:09 pm
Ah, whoops, I am wrong! You are correct drdneastup, we traded for him in 2018.
It wasn’t until the next year when Bowles and Arians came in and we switched to a 3-4. My bad.