Bucs General Manager Jason Licht looking forward to reaping rewards of his labor

Jason Licht heads into 11th season with Bucs

Kevin O'Donnell reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Jason Licht is heading into his 11th season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' general manager. He's gone through some growing pains watching his Bucs win just two games his first season, but his hard work and perseverance paid off with a crowning moment in 2020, constructing the Bucs into Super Bowl Champions.

He's now looking forward to a new season and the potential ahead.

"Just, you know, the second year with Baker [Mayfield] being at the helm, at quarterback," Licht said. "The growth of our offensive line, what we’ve done with the run game so far in preseason – hopefully that transfers over to the regular season. But, everybody’s very excited on that side of the ball for what we are capable of with the run game, which is going to help the entire team. It’ll help with ball control, it’ll help the defense, it’ll help the passing game – everything. So those are some of the things I’m excited to see, hopefully, continue."

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The Bucs have gone from the oldest team in the NFL two years ago to a team now made up of a mix of seasoned veterans with a lot of young home-grown talent. This year's roster has 22 draft picks selected over the last three years. It's been a productive run.

"The last couple of years, it has been because of the salary cap and the dead money that we had," Licht said. "It was crucial for us to draft well and to have undrafted free agents on this team, just to survive just with the debt that we carried. It worked out that way. We’re very happy with the way it’s worked, and now, we’re hoping to win this year, too."

Licht isn't about to give away any secrets about how the Bucs have been so successful in the Draft over the last four years. However, he does admit during his growth as the Bucs general manager he did alter his approach with the type of player he wanted to draft.

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"Several years ago, I kind of made a commitment to – let’s go after the high character – they have to be able to play, but let’s stay away from the guys we have concerns about, and it’s hard," Licht said. "It’s hard to resist the temptation, and I’ve taken more players off the board in the last few years just, so I would resist the temptation of taking them, and for the most part, we’ve been spot on and glad that we didn’t take them."

The youth movement has been a winning one. The Bucs have won a franchise best three straight NFC South titles. They believe they're still the team to beat, even if the Falcons are the national media's preseason favorites.

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