Jason Licht: Bucs Were Bracing For Tom Brady Retirement
February 2nd, 2022
Mystery.
If you believe Tom Brady was wishy-washy about retiring when he recorded his saccharine-laced podcast with Jim Gray and answered all those wet-kiss questions on Monday, well, Joe has swampland in southern Nevada for sale.
Last night, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht said he was somewhat prepared to get the retirement phone call Monday night from Brady. That didn’t mean the news wasn’t hard to take, Licht said, but he wasn’t blindsided by it.
“It’s something that we knew was going to happen at some point,” Licht said. “It didn’t completely shock us in the last 24 hours that this could happen, so we’ve been preparing.”
Joe is relieved to hear this. After all, the Bucs should have been prepared two years ago. What team signing a 42-year-old quarterback doesn’t prepare for the end? The way Joe looks at it, if the Bucs didn’t have contingency plans for Brady when they signed him, that would have been terribly naive if not irresponsible.
Licht said the experience of looking for a quarterback two years ago prepped them for Brady’s departure this week.
“We were in this situation a couple of years ago where Bruce [Arians] and I both said we’ll have to look behind door No. 2,” Licht said. “We’re at that position again. We’re very excited about the development of Kyle [Trask], where he has come from in the last year and what he has done – just being able to sit behind Tom [Brady], Blaine [Gabbert] and Ryan [Griffin], as well, in that room with Clyde [Christensen], Tom Moore and B.A. (Bruce Arians).
“We’re going to explore all avenues to try to make the best decision we can for the organization, but [Brady’s retirement] didn’t come as a surprise.”
Joe doesn’t trust the Bucs to hand the keys to the offense to Kyle Trask, who has yet to take a snap in an NFL game. But the key to this mystery is Trask himself.
No one outside the Bucs’ organization has seen Trask throw a pass since last preseason. Is he lighting up the Bucs defense in practice or is it owning his tail.
What spooked Joe about Trask was when offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich once midseason was going on and on about how professional Trask is and how he was doing things at practice and in the building that demonstrated his professionalism.
So when Joe asked Leftwich to share an example or two, Leftwich punted and declined.
So Trask was so impressive to Leftwich that the Bucs offensive coordinator couldn’t share with Bucs fans one friggin’ example of what he was doing well? Smelled line a line of feces to Joe then, and it still stinks. And that worries Joe.
And therein lies the Trask mystery. He could have been lighting up the Bucs defense all fall or he could have been getting regularly stomped. Only the Bucs know.
Trask very well could be the Bucs starting quarterback this fall. But have no idea now if that is a con or not.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:10 am
Let’s see how good BL is now? All I heard how great of a offense mind putting top offenses. I don’t believe BL is any good with young Qbs. Outside of Brady, his Qbs decline and sent packing only to ride the NFL benches
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:13 am
No way in h3ll. Put that slip show out there in preseason, fans see indecision and floating passes and losses there, and the Glazers can kiss the ticket waiting list, sold out games, and TB12 business effect carryover GOODBYE!
Sac up, for get Deshaun from your business buddy Caserio! They’ve already talked…yup.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:14 am
*go get
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:15 am
No one has a very good contingency plan if the starting QB cannot play due to retirement, injury, etc. One line of thought is – deal with it when it comes. QBs are a rare and expensive commodity and keeping two starter caliber QBs is just not realistic.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:16 am
Trask should have no problem with our secondary! Not to many qbs did
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:23 am
All this Brady talk has me wondering– has Brett Favre made a final decision yet on retiring?
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:24 am
Since Trask has been the 4th string QB I doubt even the Bucs know what they have. I doubt he’s taken more than 5 snaps in practice since August.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:29 am
Trask reminds me of Jameis a bit. He has a long delivery and throws AT receivers. I hope he’s learned how to speed up his release, read defenses, and throw receivers open. I saw a lot of jump balls from his college tape, often throwing to NFL caliber players in Pitts and Toney. Taller and heavier than Brady, Trask offers good size, decent mobility and has plenty of arm strength to excel in a risk it no biscuit style offense. Often overlooked in his career, he has a chance to feed off that again as an NFL QB. I hope Leftwich’s comments were sincere, time will tell.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:30 am
Every time you climb a mountain you eventually have to come back down. This is one of those times. The excitement and exhilaration is over and life goes on. Man, does that suck!
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:33 am
Joe, I think they let Trask compete for the job, but I firmly believe we open the season with Gabbert. Niether Jimmy, or Teddy are strong armed pocket passers, and I don’t think BA wants to waste time getting either up to speed in this offense. Plus both are injury prone. We also have a thing called the salary cap, meaning we can’t waste good money paying a second tier QB. Add to the fact BA has said many times he thinks Blaine is the most under rated player in the league, he’s going to give him a shot.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:35 am
Bring back Gabbert on a very cheap deal and let him and Trask compete for the starting job.
We really can’t afford Jimmy G,Wilson or even Teddy B at this point.
$20 million to spend on the draft and signing at least 20 free agents including Gowin, Davis, Whitehead, Jenson, Cappa, Fournette, Cappa, Gholston, Suh, etc…
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:35 am
I’m happy Brady helped us win a championship and he’s probably pissed at Todd Bowles for that insane defensive play call that ended his career. I’m not on the panic train. Fans panicked when we needed a pass rusher and Licht traded for jpp. We needed a quarterback two years ago and it worked out. It won’t work out and perfect as Brady but the Bucs will be competitive more so if someone decides to control good Bowles urges to get blitz happy
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:43 am
Hopefully Licht is preparing for Bruce’s retirement as well and doesn’t spend a dime on this one and done lame duck coach’s vision.
Show us what Trask has next year and then build a team around that knowledge (with our inevitable new coach) in 2023.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:44 am
Okay…. What is your plan?
The Bucs are at 6 on the standing 8 count
and looking wobbly
Let us hear some leadership!
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:46 am
I think it wise to bring in a vet to start, and give Trask some game day experience as the season progresses… just to keep some of heat off him a little and not rush him. But hopefully if the vet we brought in doesn’t play as well as we hope, we can turn the keys over to Trask. Just don’t really want to see it day one next year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:47 am
If Trask was doing so great in practice. Why didn’t the Bucs bring him up as a third Q.B at the end of the season in case there was a blowout he could get some time on the field in a real NFL game. It doesn’t make sense. Have we heard any of the players that go against him in practice raving about how great he will be one day. Nope
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:48 am
Its Rodgers or Trask.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:50 am
I’m not Brady, but even I was pissed at the last couple of defensive plays.
Defense was on and off last year – not enough consistency.
We had no wide receivers really step into the void when Godwin went down and Brown was suspended for his fake fax card.
They had plenty of opportunity and Brady even talked about it.
OJ Howard? Non existent in the passing game.
Special teams not so special.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see him in A 49ers uniform next year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:51 am
That is the whole problem, the Bucs threw a blanket over Trask and told us to look the other way.
If they were bracing for Brady leaving they would have dressed Trask and had him play in some garbage time.
The idea that they were prepared is preposterous at best or maybe even a steaming pile of stink at worst.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:55 am
Lol…hey gang, never put the ownership’s last name in a comment, keyword junk, sad but chosen by these here folk.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:00 am
“We were in this situation a couple of years ago where Bruce [Arians] and I both said we’ll have to look behind door No. 2,”
Translation: We will never win with this Jameis guy so resigning him is NOT an option!
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:02 am
I have this feeling they are going to work out a trade with the 49ers for Jimmy G especially since Lynch has a relationship with the Bucs. I could see them giving up a 4th round pick for him and him starting and Trask being the backup. I am not a big fan of Jimmy G he seems all over the place when the pressure gets to him.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:03 am
Next years draft will have the QB talent. We should be eyeing one of those guys. When we draft a player we need to look for one with the quick release. In today’s NFL that’s what you need. Go Bucs!
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:04 am
We must get a QB with a pedigree. Without that our FA’s will walk. Ironic that it may be Jimmy G… he was supposed to succeed Brady in New England…
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:06 am
I keep going back to the fact he is as never activated. If he was lighting it up in practice, he would have been on the sidelines. At the end of the year they activated RG4 over Trask. I’d like to say let’s roll with trask but not if he can’t beat out Gabbert.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:11 am
Leftwich should lower his asking price and take any job offer he has received. If he stays and the offense looks pedestrian this year, he can kiss his head coaching aspirations goodbye. He will be labeled a product of Brady.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:20 am
You could see how emotional Brady’s retirement was for Jason. He was there at the beginning and at the end. It made our own wounds that much more raw seeing him hold back tears.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:20 am
Maybe (AND never thought i would say this)… MAYBE after a year away, Sean Payton is brought in to coach Tampa!
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:22 am
@Marine Buc,
I could see Jimmy G accepting a one year prove it deal. We will lose some players, but I think the cap situation will be manipulated to allow for the maximum number of contracts. It all depends if some of our FAs want to also see what’s behind door no. 2.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:29 am
Lamarcus Says:
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:10 am
Let’s see how good BL is now? All I heard how great of a offense mind putting top offenses. I don’t believe BL is any good with young Qbs. Outside of Brady, his Qbs decline and sent packing only to ride the NFL benches
I’m putting you trolls on the spot gives us examples lamarcus. Because BA is a two time coach of the year who’s won everywhere he’s been. Can you back up your nonsense?
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:31 am
Lamarcus you and oneilaints care to comment on Sean Peyton calling it quits why would he do that? He has an all world QB in winston there what happened?
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:31 am
Time for project Shoeless Joe 2.0
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:48 am
What makes everyone think that Trask could not be successful with the right players around him…just like Mac Jones was successful in NE this past year.
You would have to be able to call plays that fit the personnel on the field. Just a year ago…Trask was sitting next to Mac Jones in the Heisman Ceremony
I am sure that Brady also had input on Trasks development..either a thumbs up or a thumbs down, we will find out soon enough.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:50 am
I dont think they were prepared because as recent as last September, Brady was talking about multiple years. He showed no hint of wanting to retire. And then something changed around Halloween to Thanksgiving. So the Bucs knew it was coming but only in the past few months.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:52 am
I hope the Bucs stick with Trask as their starting option unless a highly accomplished starter is available. No more stop gap solutions or overrating of mediocre talent in hopes of taking the next step with us when they have failed elsewhere (Teddy Bridgewater). Also a big no to QBs like Jimmy G or Jared Goff. Yes these guys have played in big games, they weren’t a main reason why those teams found success during the regular season or the playoffs. If they were, they would not be available in the first place via trade or free agency. The worst thing that can happen with playing Trask for a full season is he shows no promise and the Bucs lose many games, ending up with a high enough pick.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:53 am
Reality for us is simple….Brady was never a long term situation, that was obvious from the beginning. And replacing Brady with an equal was never going to happen. That’s been the reality since day one. Even if we managed to get Rodgers, his resume isn’t remotely close to Brady’s. There are no equals to a guy like Brady. As a fan, i’m okay with that, we had two awesome years. We won a SB during a pandemic at our own stadium. My hope now is we remain competitive and get to the playoffs….from there anything can happen. Step one is finding a guy that can get us back to the playoffs. I remember when seattle signed the FA QB from Green Bay, that same year drafted Wilson. Wilson won the starting job and has been a top tier QB. Brady himself sat behind Bledsoe, Rodgers sat behind Favre, Prescott sat behind Romo, Mahomes sat behind Alex Smith. Trask could very well be capable, he certainly wont be Brady but nobody was going to replace him….he’s arguably the greatest of all time.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:00 am
I think this is more a function of Leftwich’s poor language and thinking skills. He may be smart about football, but we hardly ever saw an original or coherent thought out him when speaking to the media.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:18 am
We are on an 18 year super bowl cycle. Enjoy your misery
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:19 am
i firmly believe it was the washington game that put retirement in Bradys head..He took a big hit from alan and never looked the same..Tom never showed he was in pain in public..
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:23 am
I was very disappointed they didn’t activate him and give him some mop up duty in a few games this year. Going by what we saw in preseason, it was up and down but there was definitely a lot of promise there
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:25 am
Licht saw this coming and was preparing for the last 24 hours? Seems like enough time to get a plan in place.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:27 am
Obviously, no one knows if Trask can actually play at this level but it doesn’t sound too encouraging that he was relegated to 4th string. TB retirement was always going to be a tough pill to swallow.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:41 am
@ lambchop
Jimmy G is in the final year of a 5 year deal signed in 2018. He is due $27 million this season. We will have to trade for him (which means no draft for the Bucs).
We could restructure his contract and lower his $27 million dollar cost against the cap for 2022.
But I just don’t like the idea of giving up our entire draft just for a mediocre injury prone QB and then being forced to pay $25-$30 million per year.
IMO Jimmy G isn’t that huge of an upgrade over B. Gabbert and Trask.
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:43 am
I don’t believe the 49ers were winning because of Jimmy G.
The 49ers were winning because of great defense, a solid running game and a few offensive stars like Kittle and Deebo Samuel…
February 2nd, 2022 at 11:46 am
people need to stop blaming the defense.
The defense got the ball back, the offense was hampered by relentless pressure and did not help Wirfs not playing, Josh Wells should have never been out there.
Blaming the defense, the coaches. gets old.
Would take Jimmy G unless he is cut, that contract is huge
Russell Wilson, maybe??? Who knows.
They’ll be tickets available cheap. LOL
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:09 pm
Well if the video clip all the news channels are showing is any indication on how he (Trask) is preparing. Look at the clip. Where he throws a pass in practice and with out missing a beat practices a golf swing. Here’s to another lost decade.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:10 pm
Because Joe is so great at evaluating quarterbacks. Remember when he thought that Jonny football was supposed to be the savior? Or that Winston was going to be the best ever? That’s why Light has has job and Joe doesn’t.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:25 pm
To the person who made some weird comment about climbing a mountain…
What the hell does even mean?
More like we were dropped off at the top of the mountain in a helicopter after winning the brady sweepstakes.
Now we are back to crappy Licht and co. LOSERS!
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Time to pay BA 100K per game to tank
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:56 pm
What a pile of garbage. Brady has said on multiple occasions, that he wanted to play until he started to suck. Take the family stuff out of it. Name Ben one person who gets six months off a year, and actually wants to spend more time with family. Brady wanted to play until 50. The family stuff is just cover, because he isn’t directly going to throw people under the bus. Bottom line is he couldn’t take one more year of Bruce arians, and his incoherent staff. Funny how neither coordinator got a job. After all like Joe says, look at the record.
February 2nd, 2022 at 12:56 pm
BBFL
Lol !
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:12 pm
Hey Joe, question:
Do you know if it’s possible that the Bucs re-work Brady’s 2021 contract before the league year ends? They have about $7.7 million in this year’s cap room left, could they work it so the money that would go on next year’s cap hit would come out of that instead?
Bucs need to pinch some pennies if we want to field a playoff team next year.
February 2nd, 2022 at 1:26 pm
move on Jimmy G and do not wait and do not look back, Trask is #1 back up and he will play soon enough Make it happen Now
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:35 pm
For all of the knowledgeable, highly intelligent, semi sober posters who want to see Trask get his shot sometime next year I want to join the club.
I trust Jason Licht too,
February 2nd, 2022 at 2:39 pm
SufferingSince76 … ‘Every time you climb a mountain you eventually have to come back down. This is one of those times.’
Take heart Suffering. EVERY team has to do that EVERY year, even the Super Bowl winner. Nothing is guaranteed at the start of any season. As we just saw …
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Marine Buc … ‘I don’t believe the 49ers were winning because of Jimmy G’.
I agree with you Marine. He’s a decent game-manager QB, but he’s not a game-changing QB like Brady, Mahomes, Rodgers or several others. He’s not a Josh Allen type (Jimmy G ran 38 times for 51 yds total last season). But he did throw for over 68% (300 completions in 441 attempts), but with relatively few deep passes it seems.
The 49ers got as far as they did because (1) they’re a good running team; (2) they played VERY good defense in their last 8 games (including their 3 playoff games). In their first 2 playoff games (both wins) they ran a LOT more than they passed (67 runs to 44 passes). In their last playoff game (a loss) they reversed that (20 runs to 30 passes). They played right into the Rams hands (sound familiar?) as Jimmy G went 16-for-30 and the 49ers had the ball for less than 25 minutes.
Interestingly, 49ers got the ball on their own 25-yd line with 1:19 to go in that game trailing 20-17 and they put the game in Jimmy G’s hands. Sequence: 1st-and-10: Pass short right (incomplete). 2nd-and-10: Pass short left (complete for MINUS 3 yds). 3rd-and-10: Pass short left (intercepted … game over). Tom Brady would’ve had the Rams right where he wanted them with 1:19 remaining and only 75 yds to go for the win.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:10 pm
If y’all are expecting the 64th pick, (which was a reach) to save the day, I want some of what you’re smoking. Arians will reinstall his wretched offense, and if the guy plays more than 13 games, he may well set the single season interception record. Arians has never developed a QB. All the top QBs he’s coached would’ve been hall of famers anyway. Get ready for chuck and duck, no risk it no biscuit. Ben fails to see why anyone would want a frail, ammonia brained coach to develop a QB. All he’s going to learn is bad tendencies, and when in doubt, chuck it down the field. Win or lose we booze. That’s a refreshing thought
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:15 pm
Defense is right about Jimmy G. Much like the bucs won in spite of Arians, the 9ers won in spite of Jimmy. He’s way to careless with the ball, and is an injury waiting to happen. Things may have turned out differently if he stayed with Bill. Some of those bad tendencies could’ve been coached out of him. Jimmy in BAs offense would be an unmitigated disaster. The guy threw at least one pick in his last five games. Arians would only exacerbated that. For the love of god, get a new coach, and a good qb
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:20 pm
FOR ALL YOU “TRASK HATERS” CLAIMING THE GUY CAN’T BLAME…
Making up lies that he doesn’t have arm strength and only throws “floaters” etc..
Search YouTube for “Kyle Trask 2021 Preseason Highlights” and watch that video.
Kyle shows solid arm strength, great pocket presence and defensive awareness, and throws an array of different passes – touch passes, hard passes, etc.
He has great pocket presence and DOES have some mobility moving around the pocket. He has fantastic ACCURACY on his throws.
And so many of the plays during last preseason he had to pay with a 4th string OL where the protection was often immediately collapsing on him. I can only imagine how much better he’d be getting to play some behind our starting line and having more time.
February 2nd, 2022 at 3:20 pm
*TYPO: Meant “Claiming the guy CAN’T PLAY”
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:14 pm
Bqweef green…on a first name basis with “Bill”…”Tommy”…”Jules” and apparently partied with Willie McGinest l..is still hanging around to gloat?! Not surprising having read his drivel disguised as tough talk…mostly following a Buc loss of course. Time to focus on Mac Jones and that daughter of his he laments about…unemployed despite recently being “mall cop/security certified”. Come to think of it…no wonder that lil’ fella comes around here to spread misery.
February 2nd, 2022 at 4:51 pm
Licht mentioned most of the offensive coaches except Byron, read into that…
February 2nd, 2022 at 5:43 pm
Why is Griffin still on the team? You either go with Trask now or Gabbert and bring Trask in during the middle of the season.
February 2nd, 2022 at 9:19 pm
BradyBucs, I watched those Trask tapes and I’m guessing many have of course checked them, looking for signs of hope. While he did show some good qualities, he also showed funky mechanics, inconsistency, bad decision making, and did not look like an NFL starter. He did throw some sky high duck balls that would have been picked in the regular season.
February 2nd, 2022 at 10:13 pm
@Lakeland Steve
I honestly wonder with no snark or accusations of you being a troll if you can actually type a positive post about the Bucs? Perhaps you could provide an example or perhaps I missed it.
Meanwhile Trask and Gabbert are sufficient. Neither is capable of carrying the Bucs like TB12 but there are many a dozen of those kinds of QB’s in the entire league.
Put some polish on the defense…try and figure a way to keep Fournette and our OL intact and give up on the no risk it no biscuit offense for a year until Trask gets more experience. With our D we could win next year if we emulate the Colts and the Titans.
BTW if you look at most mock drafts our first two picks are on the D side of the ball.