Pete Prisco: It’s Time To Spread Love For Jason Licht
April 28th, 2025
“Glazer, it’s time for a contract extension.”
CBS NFL columnist prickly Pete Prisco rarely minces words. He says what he thinks — often — and if you don’t like it, don’t listen.
Currently, Prisco senses an injustice. When NFL folks talk about the top general managers, Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman is often cited as is Baltimore’s Eric DeCosta, along with Los Angeles shot-caller Les Snead and Seattle’s John Schneider.
There is a guy, Prisco believes, who lives on the west coast of the east coast who is getting overlooked: Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht.
Prisco was so impressed with Licht’s work this past weekend, he gave the Bucs an “A” grade, even though he didn’t like Licht passing on a defender at No. 19.
Since taking over as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, Jason Licht’s draft picks have been as good as any in the league, yet Licht doesn’t get the due he deserves for his drafting prowess.
It’s time he does.
Licht’s Bucs had another outstanding draft this year, one of the best in fact. Tampa Bay received one of the three “A” grades I gave out this year. …
History says this will be a good draft for Licht — and it ‘s hard to argue with that track record.
Joe gets why some fans are bent about the selection of Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka in Round 1. Joe wanted defense, too.
Joe understands why Licht went with Ebuka. As Bucs assistant general manager Rob McCartney said after the draft Saturday, Egbuka’s character grade was off the charts good and his production speaks for itself, coming from a wide receiver factory at Ohio State.
On paper, the Bucs didn’t need a receiver. Pull back a couple of onion skins; they likely did. Father Time will come calling for Mike Evans sooner or later, and he’s is in a contract year. And when exactly will Chris Godwin play his first game? No one knows.
If Evans is still Evans and Godwin bounces back, adding Egbuka gives the Bucs the best wide receiver corps in the game.
Four weeks ago, head coach Todd Bowles said he has learned you need to score points to win. With everyone healthy, no team is better equipped to put points on the board than the Bucs.
April 28th, 2025 at 7:20 am
No reaching …all picks well within their draft ranking…good job again Jason
April 28th, 2025 at 7:32 am
With Licht in charge the Bucs have and will continue to grow a solid foundation as a powerhouse. The Bucs are close to the point where there will be so much talent we can afford to let good players go to free agency and collect comp picks. the Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins received 4 compensatory picks each.
Can you imagine what Licht could do with 4 extra draft picks???
April 28th, 2025 at 7:43 am
Somebody ought to tell Todd Bowles that there is another side of his newly found wisdom. If the other team doesn’t score any points, your team can’t lose. That is an absolute fact. Sure that Ebuka is a good player just like I am sure that there may have been kickers as good as Chase McLaughlin. We didn’t draft a kicker. Still not sure why a horrible defense didn’t draft a top defender? Everyone here can rationalize Ebuka but it was a foolish move especially given the big bucks committed to CG and ME.
April 28th, 2025 at 7:45 am
It astonishes me that so many people, media and fans alike DO NOT understand the concept of drafting the best player available according to their draft board. This is what the good consistent teams do. It’s pretty obvious that Emuka was this player for JL…..this was not a hasty decision. It’s a decision made well before the draft and executed when the player at the top of their draft board was still available. This was a great decision and will pay huge dividends for years to come!!!!
April 28th, 2025 at 7:48 am
Ebuka is one of the best receivers to come out of Ohio State…ever. Nice pick JL!
April 28th, 2025 at 7:53 am
I trust Bowles to develop DBs from rounds 2-5.
Our D-line and O-line are set for next year too.
I hope we draft another 1st round WR next year too!
Why not?
Our offense is unstoppable right now.
Let’s keep the pedal on the metal!
Imagine another 1st round WR next year?
That would give us J-Mac, Egbeku, and a 1st round WR from next year for the next 7 years.
You know one of the reasons we won the Super Bowl with Tom Brady?
Because we had 3 #1 wide receivers!
Evans, Godwin and Antonio Brown was the greatest WR trio in NFL history!
Prove me wrong!
Draft another 1st round WR next year too!
April 28th, 2025 at 8:09 am
I’ve not been here since Thursday. Today is the first time I’ve been able to comment on a JBF article on the draft and in my estimation Jason Licht gets an A+. The Bucs, if they can stay healthy enough, should easily be a 12 win team minimum and should be in the conversation for a Super Bowl.
It’s really remarkable how one signing led to all of this and that’s ultimately hiring Bruce Arians. Arians lets go of the two faces of the franchise on both sides of the ball (GMC and Jameis) and the Bucs have really been an unrecognizable organization. The opposite from the lost decade. Licht just had a draft that makes good teams better. I haven’t read any other comments, but if anyone doesn’t think Jason Licht didn’t nail this draft then they’re out of their minds.
I’m embarrassed to say that I used to think Rich McKay was a good GM. Licht should be executive of the year.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:11 am
Gipper — I will give you a chance to name 2 guys you think the Bucs should have picked at 19. Not 5.
In a year we can check back on your 2 choices.
I guess one is: Emmanwori.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:13 am
Teacherman might be on to something
April 28th, 2025 at 8:13 am
What if Godwin isn’t 100% ready to go until November?
All of the sudden that Egbuka pick seems brilliant…
April 28th, 2025 at 8:15 am
All the Guys the fans wanted at 19 none of them were even picked in the 1st round only guy was Barron out of Texas but all other fell to second round
April 28th, 2025 at 8:18 am
Gipper, I don’t think there were any kickers as good as Chase McLaughlin.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:22 am
Marine Buc Says:
April 28th, 2025 at 8:13 am
What if Godwin isn’t 100% ready to go until November?
All of the sudden that Egbuka pick seems brilliant…
—–
And what if Mike only goes about the same as he did last year? Makes a catch and goes to the sideline?
Then the pick of Egbuka goes from not only brilliant but also essential.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:22 am
Mike Biehl for the “W” as well. And his staff. Great job.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:31 am
You can’t compare kickers to receivers. You’re talking a position that needs one guy and he rarely gets hurt. The other position is a pool of guys that frequently get hurt. One is a low value position where you can find somebody off the street that is pretty good sometimes, but you can definitely steal him from another team in the off-season like we did. Pay him well and he’ll stick around.
Receiver is a high value position with plenty going in the first round. This year more receivers went early than quarterbacks, and we all know quarterback is a very high value position. It’s all about quality of players available, and the Bucs had Egbuka rated higher than a lot of other analysts based on a combo of factors from production to all the intangibles we keep hearing about then make a great football player. It wasn’t based on how similar he was to Chris Godwin only and also wasn’t based on how OS used him, since they don’t think he is only a slot receiver but he’s more versatile than that. He’s one of those home run players you look back five or six years down the road feeling very lucky you have him (like we do with Mike and Chris), probably having an Egbuka jersey in your closet at the same time.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:32 am
geno711 Says:
April 28th, 2025 at 8:11 am
Gipper — I will give you a chance to name 2 guys you think the Bucs should have picked at 19. Not 5.
In a year we can check back on your 2 choices.
I guess one is: Emmanwori.
Jadahee Barron or Will Johnson I would of took either one @19
April 28th, 2025 at 8:36 am
JL is setting up our offense to be dynamic for years to come. We have a young backfield, O line, TEs and the only area that is aging out is our WRs. It was a brilliant move to set our future with a great receiver.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:36 am
Whatever you have to do Licht just please don’t put Josh Hayes or Tyreek Funderburk in our secondary 🤦♂️ . Morrison & Parrish should be huge upgrades over them.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:40 am
2000 rams holt bruce proehl and hakim 253 passes for 4,281 yards and 23 touchdowns; the colts with harrison and wayne had stokley, all over 1000 yards in 2004; vikings randy moss, cris carter and anyone lol; skins art monk, gary clark and sanders; a bunch of niners teams; clayton and duper and nat moore; that’s the iconic ones, some others i’m sure. but yeah, teacherman, they’d be a damn good ‘quartet’ if they all get significant reps
April 28th, 2025 at 8:41 am
teacherman – i hate that you made me think about ricky GD proehl 🙂
April 28th, 2025 at 8:45 am
Brilliant draft.
I think every single draft pick will make the team and contribute this year and some will be great in the not-too-distant future.
A+ draft in my eyes.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:47 am
I felt the same way as Joe when they made the selection, but as you take a longer look at it. The Bucs most likely now have the best WR group in the NFL. Throw in a great OL, Bucky as the lead RB and White as one of the best receiving and blocking RB’s in the league and this offense is going to be very hard to stop.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:47 am
Will be interesting to compare how Benjamin Morrison did his first couple years in the league to Jadahee Barron or Will Johnson… and of course you have to factor in how well Egbuka did in his first couple years. Not saying this two players will not be solid NFL players, it’s just a curiosity and will be an interesting hindsight experiment. It’s possible Morrison is the better secondary player than those other two, only time will tell. Johnson had his own injury issues, I think I’d rather have a corner that had Morrison’s injury issues at #2 then a guy with knee problems at #1.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:49 am
I’m glad they didn’t reach or get desperate and trade up.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:50 am
After I was reminded by my favorite podcast that the Bucs went 0-4 without Godwin and Evans last year, the Egbuka pick made perfect sense. If a team is built around its strengths, you have to reinforce those strengths because if they are diminished, the whole strategy is toast. Good pick for now and the future.
April 28th, 2025 at 8:51 am
Gipper, you sound like you are channeling Tony Dungy circa 1999. Geno711 asked for 2 names that could have gone instead of the Buckeye wideout. Well, when the Bucs were picking at 19, the Ole Miss DT was already gone so immediately I thought that Licht would go with the BC edge or Will Johnson….. Yet both dropped pretty deep into the second round, so a lot of other defense needy teams passed them until Dallas took the edge rusher at #44 and Will Johnson fell to the Cards at #47 overall. If Licht and/or Bowles really wanted them they could have tried to trade up, maybe they did….. But the point is the Bucs did not get these guys or that Raven Mike Green. Trust in Licht…..
One thing I would like to find out though, were the Bucs going after the Oregon Duck LB Jeff Bassa in the 5th round but were jammed up by the Chiefs trading up? Bassa was one of those names some of the pundits thought the Bucs might get to add depth at the ILB position as LVD is not going to play forever……
April 28th, 2025 at 8:59 am
Gipper I totally agree. Having the best receiver corp in the league means absolutely nothing, if you can’t stop the opposing team from scoring. We lost games last year because we could not stop our opponents from scoring, not because we could not put plenty of points on the board ourselves. Also expecting players who did not perform last year to play better is not really a bet I am willing to take. We should have addressed immediate needs immediately in the draft, not future needs. I really hope it doesn’t bite us, so I am trying to stay hopeful.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:10 am
Becky – name 2 prospects you would have picked instead at 19.
Pretty simple request.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:11 am
Becky… “Also expecting players who did not perform last year to play better is not really a bet I am willing to take. ”
How about players that were hurt last year actually staying healthy this year? Some of these injuries were pretty random. Sure, Dean always misses a few games. Backup players are back up players for a reason… and we had to start too many of them last year. We have four defensive picks that will definitely bolster our depth immediately. JTS is gone, in his place we have three new edge rushers we didn’t have last year. The two corners were just drafted could possibly end up starting for us. The question here is could the draft have been better if the first player pick was also a defensive player instead of a receiver? Only time will tell. Like others have posted, if Godwin or Evans miss a few games, the Egbuka pick will look genius.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:15 am
Been here for 11 years
Team is 85-95 with him as the GM
5 Winning seasons out of 11
Still have holes at LB, CB, DE, S
I like Jason and most of the picks he’s made but his roster building is not great, if it was he’d have been able to field a winning or competitive team consistently. Last 5 years has been nice but let’s be real he’s got to get better
April 28th, 2025 at 9:16 am
Ryan Miller, Rakim Jarrett, and Trey Palmer combined for 790 snaps last year. Anyone who thinks WR wasn’t a need wasn’t paying attention.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:29 am
Ryan Hayes
Thanks buddy
April 28th, 2025 at 9:30 am
The Glaziers gave time for Jason Licht to grow.
He has – it seems to be evident to most of us.
To others – maybe Smarter than Joe – they do not see it that way.
Licht got in as GM in 2014 with Lovie already the coach. At that point, Lovie was a coach where the game had passed him by. So that first year he had one of the worst starting QB’s and worst head coaches in the league. He might not have hit that year — but at least he recognized how bad his QB and coach were after that 2-14 season.
To me Licht has not only drafted better and better but he clearly got better QB’s and coaches in here compared to our previous GM.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:32 am
I kept saying that WR was a need. How is it not a need when (a) Evans is 32, (b) Godwin’s recovery is still an unknown, and (c) they always miss time with nagging injuries even when fully healthy… not to mention, (d) though Jalen McMillan had a nice run at the end of last season, he’s not really a #1 receiver.
Very happy with Egbuka.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:41 am
**Jason Licht: The Best GM in Buccaneers History—Even if He Isn’t “Good”**
Before Jason Licht took over in 2014, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were a perennial basement dweller. Their all-time record (241–314–1) and only 6 playoff appearances in nearly 40 years reflected decades of mediocrity. But since Licht became GM, everything changed.
Under his leadership, the Bucs went from a decades of losing seasons to winning **5 NFC South titles** (2019–2024) and securing **1 Super Bowl victory** in 2020—an accomplishment the team hadn’t seen in nearly 20 years. Even in the post-Brady era, they continue to contend.
Licht may not always be labeled as a “great” GM, but his ability to turn the franchise around, especially through key moves like drafting players, bringing in Brady amonst others, and creating a competitive team, makes him the **best GM in Buccaneers history**. Other teams like Cleveland have struggled for much longer despite multiple changes.
***IN LICHT WE TRUST!!!***
April 28th, 2025 at 9:55 am
I liked the draft and the only thing that would have made it better would have been moving up in the 2nd to take Ezeirauku. Ezzy is going to be a star in this league-just watch.
April 28th, 2025 at 9:57 am
All the complainers and 2nd guessers who don’t get paid to do a GM job, who only knows what some media guy says about a prospect should wake the heck up. Licht has been one of the best, injuries decimated this defense last year and he has made additions and believe he will make more before season starts to improve in this area.
Heck, look at Cleveland, that dysfunctional crap show has 5 QB’s all new except for an Overpaid, non producing Watson . Be thankful for what you have and cut these guys some slack.
April 28th, 2025 at 10:31 am
I think this a great roster, but Bowles has done a horrific job in game management and pass defense.
April 28th, 2025 at 10:37 am
Geno 711 any pass rusher in the first round
KABucs did I say anything about injured players I was taking about players not living up to potential,
pay attention
Did I hit a nerve boys?
April 28th, 2025 at 10:50 am
This is a win now league. We need 2 ILB and drafted none. This is the same as taking Trask in the second round. Think about what we have gotten out of Bucky from the fourth round versus Trask in the second round.
There is only one ball, and this WR will only take away from Evans and Godwin, not add more numbers. However, Campbell would have been an immediate impact player.
Not a good decision.
April 28th, 2025 at 10:55 am
Before any more of you want to attack me. I at no time said this draft was a bust, but I am capable of seeing things from both sides. For instance, the Walker pick. Everybody is really happy with that pick and I agree he has tons of potential, but his scouting report said he tends to get pushed upfield past quarterbacks. That speaks to a lack of fundamentals and technique and I am not going to ignore those things because I like the choice or to appease people on this comment line. I want to win as much as anybody does but not to the point where I will put on rose colored glasses over draft picks. If we can’t keep it real why bother commenting. If you just want someone to agree with your opinion talk to the mirror.
April 28th, 2025 at 10:55 am
This draft is excellent! EE will be a star in future, and ensures we have a succession plan when ME and CG finally retire – replace them with JM and EE. And there are a LOT of ways to use him this year – including giving ME and CG more rest, maybe resulting in less injuries?
We drafted 2 beast CBs on day 2. So, we’re good there.
Day 3 we picked up at least one absolute STEAL in Walker, and possibly 3 steals.
The only real surprise of the draft was that we didn’t address ILB. But, interestingly, we didn’t sign an ILB in the UDFA’s either. Which tells me they think Dennis and Walker and Jones will be ‘good enough’ and I suspect we’ll see more safeties/corners on the field in those situations.