Jason Licht: Look At My Ring
March 17th, 2023
No regrets.
A healthy, invested, involved, interactive fanbase is always going to gripe about something until its team wins the ultimate prize. A championship.
And shortly thereafter, sometimes overnight, that goal, once accomplished, is quickly forgotten. What have you done for me lately?
From time to time, Joe will answer someone on this here website who is about to jump out a window over transactions made by Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht. Joe has to remind them it was Licht who built a Super Bowl-winning roster.
So yesterday Joe thought it was both amusing and interesting that maybe for the first time, Licht acted like a man who has been there, done that. Licht was talking about roster-building and then seemed to have a not-so-subtle blast at folks who don’t like his work.
Licht, in a celebration at One Buc Palace for the re-signing of Jamel Dean and Anthony Nelson, was discussing how the Bucs, in their quest not to just win one Super Bowl, but two, played games with the salary cap that the team is just now starting to feel the pinch from.
So Licht had this to say, and Joe took it as Licht pointing a finger at his critics.
“If I go back in time I would do it all again,” Licht said noting the Bucs pushed some $100 million against future salary caps to have three successful seasons with Tom Brady.
“We came close a second time,” Licht said, with Dean and Nelson flanked to his right. “If anybody wants to criticize what we did they can come to any of our three homes and look at our rings.
“And we will pursue another one, too.”
If not for a couple of things fully out of Licht’s control — Antonio Brown going mental in New York and that butchery of a final defensive play in the playoff loss to the Rams — the Bucs likely make a second straight Super Bowl and who knows, maybe win back-to-back titles.
Winning a Super Bowl earns a GM massive and significant street cred and job stability. If for whatever reason Licht walked out the front door of One Buc Palace Friday night, he wouldn’t be unemployed for five hours unless he wanted time off.
Licht has been there; done that. The proof is in the jewelry.
Right now, outside of restocking his once-championship roster, Licht needs to find one element that takes care of the near and distant Bucs’ future: a franchise quarterback. Licht’s now back in the same boat as many other NFL general managers.
Yes, yes, after Baker Mayfield, of course.
March 17th, 2023 at 4:47 am
Jason’s a survivor, and that counts for a lot in my book. He’s ‘grown’ a lot as a GM since he first arrived in 2014. His strongest attribute IMO is that he’s learned how to take advantage of opportunities when they drop into his lap. THAT’S a valuable trait that many overlook in my experience because the road to failure is paved with missed opportunities.
JL pounced when the Giants decided to part ways with JPP; the Bucs benefitted greatly. JL pounced when Bruce Arians decided that he’d had enough of the broadcast booth; the Bucs benefitted greatly. JL pounced when Tom Brady decided that he wouldn’t be able to finish our his career as a Patriot; the Bucs benefitted greatly. JL pounced when several ‘big dogs’ like Gronk, Fournette & Brown decided they’d like to join Brady in his quest for yet another Super Bowl. And again, the Bucs benefitted greatly.
And yet, just like no one in Major League baseball has ever batted 1000, so too Jason has struck out more than once as we all know. But it’s a person’s overall performance over time that really counts, and JL’s done quite nicely from that perspective.
Top folks in any organization however, in my experience, get a lot more credit than they deserve IF things go well (of course, IF things go poorly they’re usually the first to get the axe). It’s those ‘down the chain’ giving their best day-in & day-out who really make the organization tick & succeed.
BA for instance created a well-oiled machine that worked very well for him for 3 years. Todd Bowles is in the process of trying to reconfigure that machine into one that’ll work well for him. None of us know yet how well that’ll function. But we’re about to find out. Personally I’m rooting for it to function smoothly & kick arse, because not to would mean rooting against the Bucs, and I can’t do that.
March 17th, 2023 at 5:00 am
^agreed…
He just needs to get on his game a little more with draft picks and stop trying to be so cutesy
March 17th, 2023 at 5:05 am
Finally the Licht haters got a reply straight from the man himself. Most of them would never listen to JL at a stand-up or a sit-down press conference, I guess. They have to read about it here or elsewhere. This is going to be an exciting off season after all. Free agency has started extremely well so far. And then there’s the draft. l think I can unequivocally speak for some of the hard-core Buccaneer fans anyway.
Go Bucs! Sis Boom Bah! Kick some @ss! etc., etc.!
March 17th, 2023 at 5:11 am
Yes, Jason Licht has matured as a GM. ^agreed.
March 17th, 2023 at 5:43 am
I am also rooting for Todd Bowles as the Bucs coach to have success. The defensive players seem to have his back. Now that BL is gone the focus is should
be on scoring more points . The game starts at the whistle, not the second half.
Put players in position to make plays early in the game to instill the belief that
the game is in their grasp.
March 17th, 2023 at 6:33 am
Jason’s best attribute is his ability to sell!!
His FA signed resume speaks for itself.
March 17th, 2023 at 6:33 am
Obviously, we still need one more qb to sit on the practice squad on game day, wondering if they’ll simply re-sign Gabbert, or draft one of the half dozen or so possibilities out there
March 17th, 2023 at 6:40 am
Jason Licht has earned some miscues going forward. After being doormats for 10 years, we got something to cheer about. It was worth it.
March 17th, 2023 at 7:07 am
Last piece of the puzzle? REPLACE Bowles!
March 17th, 2023 at 7:08 am
Hendon Hooker
March 17th, 2023 at 7:47 am
Jason strikes out some because he always swings for the fences. He hits quite a few home runs too. That’s the only way to get a ring in this league.
We need one of those home runs next month, Jason.
March 17th, 2023 at 7:57 am
He should thank Tom Brady for that ring. Tom Brady is the only reason hes still employed.
March 17th, 2023 at 7:57 am
Joe wrote:
“A healthy, invested, involved, interactive fanbase is always going to gripe about something with the team until the ultimate prize is reached. A championship.”
No – a health invested, involved, interactive fan base loves the team, loves to talk about the team, to analyze what the team is doing.
Only gripers gripe. They aren’t fans.
And obviously, the last part of the statement, ” … A championship.” is not true either, as look at how many so-called fans immediately griped that winning one Super Bowl was an obvious sign of failure since we didn’t win two of them back to back .. instead of celebrating success of winning one Super Bowl, being only 1 of 32 teams that season to do so.
And then the injury fairy came along and prematurely ended our third season with the GOAT under center, running for his life as a non-running quarterback because his entire starting offensive line for the previous two seasons was obliterated from the very start. The gripers including JBF tried to blame that on the offensive coordinator whose offenses led the entire league the previous several seasons (top 2), but somehow, when injury killed his O-line, became stupid.
Right.
Self-proclaimed fans are the dumbest rocks in a box full of dumb rocks. They cannot see beyond the next game, and immediately forget the last game, and it’s always “what are you doing to salve my ego this very same second?”
Hey, “fans” – it ain’t about you. It’s about the team. You aren’t a player, you arent a coach, you aren’t a GM, you aren’t even a beer salesman at the stadium. You are nothing to the team. If you don’t like the team, stop going to the games (as if you ever did), stop watching them on TV, and spend all day polishing your self worth from other activity you are no good at but pretend it is really you doing it.
March 17th, 2023 at 8:06 am
Well said @Defense Rules, good job. If you don’t like the job Lichts done since coming to Tampa he’s got 3 words for ya: Kiss the ring.
March 17th, 2023 at 8:13 am
Hey Bob in Valrico , I don’t think with this team we will be scoring a lot of points . With this team I would however be really happy if this new playcaller plays smashmouth football with play action and hits the plays that are there to go along with this defwnce playing as a unit and not letting anything get by them . We can win a lot of games that way
March 17th, 2023 at 8:17 am
Jason Licht’s record, playoffs, coaches, and quarterbacks
2014: 2-14, no playoffs, Lovie Smith, Mike Glennon & Josh McCown
2015: 6-10, no playoffs, Lovie Smith, Jameis Winston
2016: 9-7, no playoffs, Dirk Koetter, Jameis Winston
2017: 5-11, no playoffs, Dirk Koetter, Jameis Winston
2018: 5-11, no playoffs, Dirk Koetter, Jameis Winston & Ryan Fitzpatrick
2019: 7-9, no playoffs, Bruce Arians, Jameis Winston
2020: 11-5, playoffs & Super Bowl Champions, Bruce Arians, Tom Brady
2021: 13-4, playoffs, Bruce Arians, Tom Brady
2022: 8-9, playoffs, Todd Bowles, Tom Brady
March 17th, 2023 at 8:40 am
I trust Licht’s roster building….& yes….we are missing the most important element…..QB…
What I don’t trust is Bowles’ coaching……I think we have a good enough roster to win the division again…..but Bowles inspires no confidence.
I’ll root for his success nonetheless.
March 17th, 2023 at 8:45 am
I think a big reason we didn’t 2-peat was because dudes were riding the championship high the year before. Let’s be honest that SB team was built to dominate but honestly I think things started going sideways as soon as BA stepped down. That started the spiraling downfall to our team. I wouldn’t say we are in a repair state but not knowing who will lead this team to victory now that Brady is gone and Bowles’s decision making is meh…I think is safe to approach this season with a humble outlook on expectations and just hope that things start clicking by week 1.
March 17th, 2023 at 9:13 am
He’s been here for 9 drafts and we still have glaring holes at
QB
RB
LT
TE
Edge
Safety
K
DL
OG
Please tell me again how one Tom Brady signing makes him a good GM?
From the 2014-2015 drafts we have 1 player still on the roster
Between the 2016-2018 Drafts we have exactly 3 players from those 3 drafts still on the roster. 3!!!!!
2019-2020 were good drafts but the 2021-2022 drafts are looking bad right now.
Overall he is 66-80 as a GM, if he’s fired after the 23 season I doubt many teams are gonna rush to hire him, unless he brings Brady with him
March 17th, 2023 at 9:16 am
3 winning seasons in 9 years…
Man if I had such a low success rate at my job I’d be canned
March 17th, 2023 at 9:26 am
All things considered he has done better lately but still reaches a bit too much
The fascination with division 3 lineman and drafting Kickers higher than anyone but Al Davis…..huge gap in the resume
He did draft Evans, Godwin, Winfield, Davis, Dean, and Vea too
DWhite a bad reach at 5 overall – ouch!!!!
DSmith an example of picking the wrong big school guy but Ali Marpet was a steal…
See a trend? Draft and FA he is a C
None of us know what the ownership would or would not let him do in the Lovie/Dirk era – seems like they knew they held us back for a while as they played with ManU, but then came the open purse for BA and Brady
I think we go through that same tough period for a while until the owners get antsy for another trophy and they let JL go hog wild again
March 17th, 2023 at 9:44 am
Don’t fall for Licht propaganda
He is average at best.
Anyone can win with Tom Brady…except Bowles
March 17th, 2023 at 9:49 am
Jason is as good as any GM in the NFL!! So far so good!! Hopefully he hits a home run on draft day!!
March 17th, 2023 at 9:58 am
Players picked in the 1st round, only have a 32% chance of seeing a 2nd contract that percentage drops precipitously the further you go in the draft with 7 round draft picks having a 7.2% chance of signing a second deal. Some of ya’ll are too quick to judge, and way off in factoring in what actually makes a GM successful.
Also, those early drafts were attempts at putting this roster back together after 5 seasons of mismanagement by Mark Dominik. People forget to remeber, Licht was head of player personnel before he came to Tampa, NOT a GM, so in his first go it took him a few years to right the roster, but he’s brought in enough talent to win an SB & two division titles.
Lichts’ work raised your standards/expectations as a Bucs fan, stfu with these one-sided, irrational takes, because your talking about JUST the misses and failing to acknowledge hits that actually amounted to something.
March 17th, 2023 at 10:15 am
The Rams game was blowno by Bloweszo.
The 2022 season was a train wreck thanks to Bloweszo, who used Leftwurst as a scapegoat.
Right now Licht’s hands are tied by Bloweszo being gifted the job, but that will change after Bloweszo cranks out his 5th consecutive losing season as a head coich.
March 17th, 2023 at 10:26 am
And Joe and others worships this guy with all due respect take Brady out of the picture what do you have. BA saw the end coming and got out. 34-62 without Brady.
March 17th, 2023 at 10:36 am
Without Tom Brady, the Buc’s teams built by Jason Licht only had one winning record and never made the playoffs in his first 6 years of being the GM, firing multiple head coaches who all were unable to win with the roster he built.
The question logical Bucs fans who evaluate people based on the totality of their record is this, is Jason Licht just a losing GM who got lucky with Tom Brady or is he not?
If you believe that the answer to that question is that Licht got lucky with acquiring Tom Brady, then that doesn’t make you a bad Bucs fan.
It just makes you a Bucs fan who thinks that Licht has not been successful in building a winning playoff team prior to Tom Brady (the facts are that Licht has never built a successful team prior to Tom Brady) and that he and the Bucs will revert back to their pre-Brady ways.
Hopefully we’re proven wrong.
March 17th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
The fact that Licht GOT Brady, is all you need to know. Take a hike @letsgobuc…you’re spinning an irrelevant scenario.
March 17th, 2023 at 12:22 pm
I do like how free agency has been going so far given the restrictive parameters the Bucs have to deal with. They are still in a weak division and could win a third consecutive NFC title. This will be the ultimate test of Lichts abilities. Can he put together a roster without Tom Brady and remain competitive? The draft will be key in determining that.
March 17th, 2023 at 3:17 pm
The know nothings can say what they want. He’s a great GM. He can rebuild a franchise AND give it that extra piece or two to win it all. Most can’t do either, he can do both. He is far from perfect, but none are. His record speaks for itself.
March 17th, 2023 at 3:40 pm
Great post DR.
And I agree Joe, 2021 we were soooo close.
2022, not so much.
March 17th, 2023 at 4:28 pm
Mark Dominic’s record as the Bucs GM for 5 years was 28-52
Jason Licht, Mark Dominic’s successor, in his 6 years of rebuilding the Bucs franchise after the disastrous Morris and Shiano years, prior to the arrival of TB12 to the franchise his record was 36-62.
Those are facts.
If you don’t like those facts, then I’m sorry.
I’m happy TB12 was signed by Jason Licht after San Francisco and Miami turned him down, but I also know that Licht was no better than Dominic prior to signing TB12.
March 17th, 2023 at 4:51 pm
has good Ideas and energy but is an awful drafter
March 17th, 2023 at 5:16 pm
“If I go back in time I would do it all again,” Licht said noting the Bucs pushed some $100 million against future salary caps to have three successful seasons with Tom Brady.
———-
Absolutely, and anyone who disagrees with that is a complete idiot. Glad he said it publicly.
The only issue I have is that he should have used this year to clean up the cap as much as possible, since Todd Bowles stinks and is going to get fired at the end of the year anyways, so why waste money on next years cap just to go 5-12? I’d have rather went 3-14 and gave the next coach an extra $30m in cap room, and more importantly, the #1 pick instead of the #7 pick.
March 17th, 2023 at 5:45 pm
😂😂 Jason Licht is ok but let’s be honest this is the same man who missed on the whole 2016 draft class. And all this Brady talked remember Brady was the GM back then at least that’s what I heard on this site. It’s time for him to put up or shut up with this draft. And not to mention most of yall on here don’t want Trask to even get a chance to be the starter. And Jason Licht was the one who drafted the quarterback y’all don’t want right now in the second round! Lol 🤣🤣
March 18th, 2023 at 5:27 pm
Licht has done nothing outside of Tom but putting up garbage under .500 teams and without BA running the show…Licht is an JAG who disappears when we are losing and front runner when we are winning