He’s “Deadly Serious”
March 22nd, 2021The month of March is all about Dick Vitale.
March Madness takes over the sports world after NFL free agency opens and whenever a team has an upset or a player makes a sick play, you can just hear the hollering of Vitale, a hardcore Bucs fan, “You can’t be serious, bay-BEE!”
Well, it seems one guy who has had his own March madness is as serious as a heart attack.
And that person is Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht, per Marc Sessler of NFL.com. He says Licht has no desire to oversee the Bucs being a one-and-done Super Bowl-winning team, sort of like Michigan State and Ohio State, teams that got knocked out of the first round of the NCAA tournament this past weekend.
The Super Bowl-winning Bucs remain the Super Bowl-winning Bucs: I prefaced this piece with a rash of cynical jabs at the hot-and-cold nature of free agency. None of that applies to Tampa’s maneuverings.
Tagging the team’s top wideout in Chris Godwin was wise. Bringing back beloved linebacker Lavonte David and pass-rushing wonder Shaquil Barrett (with 27.5 sacks over the past two years) illustrates to every human inside the building how deadly serious general manager Jason Licht is about going back-to-back. The kicker’s staying around, too, as Ryan Succop agreed to a three-year, $12 million deal. The cherry on top is Rob Gronkowski returning for another campaign after he surged down the stretch and sizzled against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. It’s not over, either, with the club engaged in chats to bring back wideout Antonio Brown, behemoth Ndamukong Suh and good ol’ Leonard Fournette.
Extending Tom Brady through 2022 opened up a prairie land of cap space and helped pull plenty of these levers. The decision to run it back with this clique of Lombardi-winning stars was about as difficult as NBC executives wondering if it made sense to green light a second season of Friends.
(Column Intermission: Joe is not a “Friends” fan. It just didn’t resonate with Joe for some reason. To Joe, gawking at Jennifer Aniston was the only reason to watch that show. It was “Beverly Hills 90210” with a laugh track. And the only reason to watch that show was to gawk at Jennie Garth. And no, Joe didn’t watch that either unless Joe was too drunk/lazy to use the remote.)
Now the only thing Joe potentially bad about re-signing a bunch of guys who just won you a Super Bowl is maybe they lost their hunger to be champions. We won’t know that until the fall.
With park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing Bucs Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady roaming the locker room, Joe is just going to guess he will not tolerate complacency from anyone.
March 22nd, 2021 at 7:20 am
Friends was maybe more aimed at the young people first striking out or stick somewhere. I was well past that and it provided little more than attractive young people in predictable situations with someone strange twist… A more modern version of threes company.
March 22nd, 2021 at 7:50 am
No not at all
March 22nd, 2021 at 8:46 am
Imo
Tom Brady wants to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He was the reason New England Dominated.
I think the rumors are true, and Brady and Belichick left on very bad terms.
Brady wants to prove, what Sean Peyton is about to learn.
Its easy to be a “genius”coach, when you have an incredible QB.
The moves that Belichick has made, since Brady left- aren’t the moves of a genius. They are the moves of a desperate, foundering coach.
And we know what Brady has done- and what he wants to do again!
March 22nd, 2021 at 9:13 am
Complacency? No way. This team will be just as hungry for another playoff run as they were last year, and they won’t want to limp to a 7-5 start. With a relatively easy schedule they should have no problem winning the division this year (Goal 1). Goal 2 – win a first round bye. Goal 3 – back to back SBs. Go BUCS!
March 22nd, 2021 at 10:15 am
PSL Bob … Motivation/Drive is the big question with this team. This is where Tom Brady likely pays dividends in Year 2. When he gets back to work, the team will hopefully follow.
March 22nd, 2021 at 4:47 pm
I hope Brady becomes our next head coach 😉
March 22nd, 2021 at 4:49 pm
The players who have been through the hard years are not going to settle for one title.
I would be willing to see Licht resign G. McCoy as depth. I kind of wish he had been there for the win. And as depth, he would be good.
March 22nd, 2021 at 7:11 pm
The Bucs will be hungry to prove they are not a one hit wonder and will be better this year than last.