Arians Wanted Licht

August 19th, 2019

Together as a team.

Joe has suspected this for months. And Sunday, it sure seemed as if we got confirmation.

Joe has always maintained that if it wasn’t for Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, Bucco Bruce Arians would not be here. Arians has often stated he came to Tampa Bay in large part because of his past working relationship with Licht in Arizona.

After Sunday’s practice, Arians was asked about the report Licht received a contract extension this past January, placing Licht under contract with the Bucs for the same length of time as Arians.

Arians stopped just short of suggesting, which Joe believed, that keeping Licht for the foreseeable future was part of Arians’ contract demands.

“I’m surprised it just got out,” Arians said of the news. “It was huge for me because I trust [Licht], I respect him and he’s the reason I’m here.”

As Joe has told fans who are disgruntled with Licht, without Licht, there would be no Arians in Tampa.

Now, there is no doubt that’s the case.

33 Responses to “Arians Wanted Licht”

  1. Buccaroo Says:

    Since Lichts contract does not go against our salary cap, why all the kvetching about Lichts contract? So what? Are you saying he can’t be fired? It’s Glazer loot. They made the gesture with their own stack. If BA and Licht sh|te the bed, you don’t think the Glazer’s can still fire him? It’s their money, and they can blow it however they choose. You ever heard of the term “carrot”? Well, the Glazers just gave Licht a better reason to achieve.

  2. Jonathan Limpchimpi Says:

    True enough. Arians is a very loyal guy and I respect that. The six month secret surrounding the extension is the puzzling part. Oh swell…I shall try to kvetch no more about this…but make no promises.

  3. Louis Friend Says:

    His contract isn’t the least bit important. Everyone with half a brain knows he’s gone if the Arians show flops. So if Bruce goes down in flames, Licht goes with him. For now let’s just say that Licht just hit the jackpot in matching the expression “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every so often.”

  4. Louis Friend Says:

    @Jonathan Limpchimpi

    Why did they keep it secret?

    If you had to kiss someone’s wart faced stepmother to get a date with her pretty daughter, would you want anyone to know about it?

  5. Tom S. Says:

    I think the simple point is you don’t generally award people with 5 year contract extensions after they’ve proven beyond a shadow of a doubt they are incompetent. Licht’s record at 27-53 is a game worse than what got Mark Dominik fired and despite being a “rock star” he doesn’t seem to have the NFL banging down his door to return.

    When you are mired in 11 straight years of losing football with an apathetic fan base, a certifiable ton of questionable personnel decisions and a team in cap hell coming off two straight 5-11 seasons you generally don’t want to see ownership reward one of the two captains of the ship with more years. It really tells you all you need to know about the Glazer Babies and their abject cluelessness. I guess being born into wealth and owning a team because your daddy was smarter than you’ll ever be isn’t a prerequisite to be a good owner of a sports team?

  6. Im tired and 87 is right Says:

    To be honest with you I never understood why so many blame the Glazers for the Buc’s misfortunes. They will open the wallet for whoever they think will win. Unfortunately they have had bad luck. I concur with Buccaroo on this in that if this doesn’t go well for the Glazers they will still eat the money. Look at this as they are trying to do whatever it takes to turn this ship around. Go Bucs!

  7. Im tired and 87 is right Says:

    In other words the deal was if Bruce came Licht stays. I would not be surprised if the Bucs had made a similar deal if not more to Gruden the year prior as the Raiders made. Nobody can’t fault the Glazers for not opening their pocket books. Now if the luck can start coming our way…

  8. Blackmagic00 Says:

    @Im tired, problem is, Glazer boys just don’t know football. Their dad knew football and was able to finagle things to finally win a championship. He knew he had a championship team with the right coach. Unfortunately, his boys, ( I give them great credit for trying) just don’t know this sport, or anyone who would give them the time of day. Gotta slight feeling BA is here because he couldn’t actually find work and JL was the most promising thing he had, in turn, he said he won’t work without a JL contract agreement. Idk if this is true, just a hunch. However, I do believe this is the best thing that’s happened to to our franchise since Gruden was attained to clean up the other part of the best thing that’s happened to our beloved Buccaneers.

  9. Ben real Says:

    I’m tired is correct … glazers are not to blame … they are trying to have the best people to make this team successful… they want to win otherwise they wouldn’t invest money to players like Evans or overpay Donovan smith or give money to Marpet or put money into Ray jay …. the team sucks because we have had bad coaches brought in here … if the glazers are to be blamed for anything it’s the hires and the trust they give … these guys litch and Koetter mike smith they all feed the glazers B.S and they believe it … I honestly do not think they glazers understand football …. and they are easily fed crap and they constantly believe the crap…. which is why the bucs need a head of operations guy in the front office that has the glazers best interest at heart

  10. FireJasonLicht Says:

    You’re an idiot if you dont believe Bruce Arians had multiple job offers to come back out of retirement and you’re at out retarded if you really believe Cleveland wanted Freddy Kitchens over BA.

  11. Pittsshore Says:

    Like I have always said: Tampa is a money grab for players, coaches, and now the GM. They are all in cahoots. I would not be surprised if the GM is getting a kick back (brown paper bag) from players agents when he signs them with ridiculous deals.

  12. Defense Rules Says:

    That Jason Licht is here because BA wanted him as his GM has been obvious since BA was hired. And everyone knew it.

    BA knows football. BA came in with a well-defined plan. BA needs an ownership group AND a GM that buys into HIS plan 100% and will do everything he can to make it happen. BA trusts JL to be THAT GM. Not a big deal … UNLESS the plan doesn’t work. Only time will tell.

  13. NOSBOS Says:

    Very simple, BA loyal to a fault. He saw from a distance Jason being dogged in the media and by a lame @$$ fanbase. He saw Jameis who had already displayed humility to him being dogged in the media and by a lame @$$ fanbase. BA thought for a moment and decided it’s time to do something about that. Time to give you fools something else to talk about. Your time almost up.

  14. NOSBOS Says:

    Enjoy it while it last b&*@#.

  15. Bucsfanman Says:

    Not that I care but, NOSBOS, you think Licht has done a “good” job?
    I think more than anything THAT is the surprising part. You think Kraft or Rooney extend a guy like that? The answer is unequivocally NO.
    We’ll have to stop talking about it because there’s no point, he’s here. But make no mistake NOSBOS, fans have every right to question that move.

  16. Morgus the Magnificent Says:

    And with that, now many will obviously question the wisdom of Arians. And we should, because keeping Licht is at best questionable.

  17. Doctor Stroud Says:

    It is true that it’s Team Glazer’s loot to do with as they please. It’s their team, and we can’t say anything if they want to pay three coaching staffs at the same time and fire multiple coaches with multiple years remaining on their contracts. They just like to make it rain. Beyond that, however, they made all the decisions to fire and hire (including Tim McGraw), and they are what their record says they are. Throwing Team Glazer loot at the problem does not fix it.

  18. mark2001 Says:

    Couldn’t be clearer, could it? But as we knew…er…suspected.. it was about Licht and Arians having a great relationship and mutual trust. They will rise or fall together.

  19. Loyaltotheend Section 312 Says:

    BA better win or his loyalty to Licht, Leftwich and others is going to hurt his rep

  20. gp Says:

    Is the pittster insinuating illegal activity regarding Glazer money between Licht and certain players?
    What you are implying could land several people behind bars for several years

  21. NOSBOS Says:

    312 BA’s formula always wins,Fanman the countless issues surrounding this team have been documented here so many times. Not Licht’s fault free agents have viewed Tampa as a vacation get away for a number of years. As for draft picks there are no guarantees when it comes to any of those. GMs are not solely responsible for righting a ship. That starts with ownership truly having a desire to win,(I think the G Boyz finally got that itch) then a quality GM and a capable HC to work his magic on the mental of grown men. Lastly QB play, his resume speaks for it self so I ain’t even go on about that. It just became fair to judge this team with the hiring of BA. Mainly because he’s the only legit certified shot caller to enter the building in some while now. Judge this team after 2019.

  22. NOSBOS Says:

    Y’all worry about ish that has absolutely nothing to do with you. Careless how much you spend on season tickets every year. No one forces you. An owner extending a current employee is Organization business. Not fans. You folks think y’all matter waaayy more than you actually do. Stick to being a fan and be entertained.

  23. Ghost of Darrell Henderson Says:

    If I were a journalist, I would give Dirk Koetter a call and ask him what he thought about the Back Stabbing Gumpster Fire and the secret back door deal with the Glazer Troll Family.

    Now that DK is a conference opponent and an interested party, he may just have something to say.

    To get the real scoop, call Koetter’s wife or her hair dresser.

  24. Stanglassman Says:

    Jason hasn’t been as bad a GM as some of you’ll try to make him out to be. He was young inexperienced coming in we all should have know there’d be a learning curve. I like the adjustments he has made. Lots of his draft picks that didn’t make it here are playing for other teams. He also successfully picked up some of theirs that didn’t make it and they’re doing well here. That’s the way it works. Players like VHIII, Spence and Bond are looking promising.

    Maybe it’s because the draft has gotten more popular that all these people who’ve only recently started to pay attention think teams bat 100% or close on their picks. Nobody does. Don’t believe me, go look up any teams draft history. Jason has been above average and showing improvement. Free agents bust everywhere. Free agency is no teams first choice but when you change 3 coaches in 6 years it’s difficult to build your team through the draft exclusively. Different coaches have different needs. And Koetter & Mike Smith didn’t know what they wanted. They kept telling us (and Jason?) he was going to play some 3-4 D and needed man cbs than kept them in the zone.

    I think we finally got things going in the right direction. I trust BA and this staff and if he wants Jason L. as his GM he should have it.

  25. mark2001 Says:

    GP…don’t think the Glazers are personnel genius’s. But financially, they are as bright as they come. As if Licht could get a kickback on salaries, which would basically be stealing Glazer money. I don’t mind wacky posts…after all…message boards are what they are. But that is about as crazy as anything I’ve ever read..and that is saying something.

  26. mark2001 Says:

    Ghost..and yours is a close second. Man.. is there something new in the Tampa Bay aquifer or something? I think they better test the water…seems something is tainting the reason of some posters.

  27. mark2001 Says:

    GP…you do know I was refering to Pittster, and not you. Your post was spot on. His post was “mindblowing”…unbelievable. I guess we live in the age of wacky conspiracy theories.

  28. christopher Says:

    Tom S…what part of “Arians wouldn’t be here without Licht” do you not understand. This also means Arians is actually picking the majority of the players now (like Gruden in Oakland), Licht is just here to take the workload off (like Mayock in Oakland).

  29. Stanglassman Says:

    Ghost thinks his girlfriends never found a new squeeze before they told him to hit the road. That’s life man people do that kinda stuff. I’m not saying it happened only that it happens. With you it Did happen, often.

  30. Dusthty Rhothdes Says:

    Look at the dumpster fire that arians left the AZ Cards in with his personnel moves and now he is teaming with Licht…not pumped about the future

  31. Stanglassman Says:

    Now Gruden knows more about personal than Mayock? That’s worse than BA knowing more than BA about personal. Managing the scouting department and overseeing contracts is a full time job like coaching. Why do people keep thinking the coaches are great GMs. Nobody ever thinks the GMs are actually coaching. Go look up Az. draft picks while BA was head coach then tell me why he’d be such a great GM. He supposably had lots of leverage there too. Coaches coach and GMs are GMs. Sure BA has lots of authority but he’s not the GM.

  32. BA FAN Says:

    Licht thrived with Coaches who were gifted enough to develop diamond players in the rough snapped up in lower rounds from small schools or taken as cast offs from teams with no developmental Coaches or undrafted players. Coaches like Bellicheat and BA. But Licht as a first time GM made some early mistakes and got better with time but had the bad fortune of a string of Coaches as bad as Clueless Warhop who couldn’t develop the promise of any of Licht’s picks other than the top tier draft picks. That is the only reason Licht has a bad win loss record. If he was fired today Bellicheat would hire him back in a heartbeat! So wise up folks; BA is a great Coach and we were only able to get him with Licht being here. We will be in high cotton for years to come—the Trolls will see.

  33. BucsFan727 Says:

    Ok they extended Licht. So what BA wanted him. You have to let the coach choose his guy in this situation. I really think BA will do wonders for this team. If anything. hes got this ship going in the right direction. We have to give him and the staff a chance to build this team up. The owners are. And we actually have no chioce. Unleass you just stop following them. People can bitch all day and there still coming back for more. So who is there crazy one in this situation? You better (bleeping) believe BA is going to have a say on who they bring in here. And thats why im ok with it. (Keep a tight leash on him BA.)