Jason Licht Says Bucs Are Still Last Year’s 6-2 Team; Stresses Offense Will Drive Success
March 26th, 2026
What an optimistic state of the union address was delivered by Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht yesterday.
Joe loved it.
Score, score and score some more. That was part of Licht’s message, as he explained offense should drive the Bucs bus in 2026.
“We feel like we’re still the same team that started off the year 6-2, 5-1, really — 6-2 at the bye week. It was a great bye week,” Licht told the official Buccaneers website. “But we just had some unfortunate injuries. You know a lot of things led to it; you never want to use that as an excuse.
“We still have some very good players on our team. Start with the offense, with our offensive line being one of the top ones in the league when we’re healthy, and the receiver room that we have, Bucky [Irving], Baker [Mayfield,] obviously, that if we can accentuate that offense — which I think will be one of the top offenses, has a chance to be — even a little bit more, and make what’s really good even better, I think that gives us a very good chance to having some success this year.”
Yes, Licht said the Bucs have strong pieces on defense but he stressed that upgrades from last year are needed, and that young defensive players need to step up more than they did.
Licht said the Bucs had a best-player-available mindset in free agency as they tried to put pieces in their puzzle with the salary cap in mind.
Joe’s morning flash poll today shows that 41 percent of Bucs fans believe Tampa Bay will win 9 or more games this coming season. Within that results subset, 24.5 percent of fans say the Bucs will win 10 or more game.
Bring on the draft!
March 26th, 2026 at 8:37 am
Tee up predictable Rod Munch…
March 26th, 2026 at 8:42 am
It’s too bad that people don’t remember the past more than the present
And the present Bucs are 2-7 during the last 9 games
What the Bucs did in 2024, and early 2025 is irrelevant
What’s relevant is the 2- 7 record down the stretch, that kept them out of the playoffs
Just forget about last season, there were no bright spots
Even at 6-2, you wasn’t dominating anyone , you were winning close games
Then you started losing close games, that’s how it goes
Close games can be won or lost on a single play
You made the crucial plays early on, then you didn’t during the 2nd half of the season
March 26th, 2026 at 8:49 am
I watched this interview in its’ entirety, it felt a little bit like Licht was selling while also trying to stay as generic as possible.
The problem with the whole 6-2 deal is, we were winning games by the hairs on our ssa. Heading into and coming out of the bye, we were still playing a brand of football that wasn’t sustainable.
Defense was leaky, the offense was inconsistent and turning the ball over more than it did in it’s first 8 games while struggling to score. Special teams, outside of a big Kam Johnson return here/there and Money McLaughlin, we were kind of trash covering kicks and blocking our own kick attempts up.
March 26th, 2026 at 8:49 am
I expect him to be positive. That’s his job.
The issue with this logic is that we’re supposed to believe the 6-2 start and attributed and not believe the 2-7 negatives. That’s not possible.
It also sounds like he’s juicing us up for taking an offensive player at 15 to strengthen the best part of the team. I’m for BPA but if we are relying on our offense and blaming the injuries, with the cba and player friendly camps, injuries are a significant part of the game and you have to plan for it. That’s notably relevant for us because our RT gets hurt every year, two of our WRs get hurt every year and our qb has a habit of playing somewhat recklessly and hurt.
It was a good job brining in Gainwell tho given what happen to Irving.
March 26th, 2026 at 8:51 am
Everyone is screaming D and they should but I think the O-line needs attention. When healthy they are one of the best, but they were not healthy, that affected the running game and Baker. Use a 3rd or 4th and draft a o-lineman.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:06 am
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
2 AM approaching Tonga
It occurred to me a minutes ago as I woke up to piss… the ole Mike Evans, Tom Brady connection, on and off field.
Mike Evans left for SF because of the front office BS that is Desperately clinging to self preservation and the HOPE that they can pull the fat out of the fire.
Tom and his family are FOREVER 49er fans and have inside connections. I believe Tom encouraged and sold ME on the best fit for the final chapter of his career on many levels.
Mike Evans is probably done with Tampa after his career other than returning for his ROH .
Don’t think JL will be the GM …. Sadly the inept owners will still be doing what they have always done…
March 26th, 2026 at 9:07 am
4 of those games were last miinute comebacks…..gotta keep Baker upright and healthy….draft Ioane.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:07 am
Yeah you can still get a really good guard in like the 4th round. The way Licht was talking in that interview he seemed to be hinting around we may take an offensive player earlier than we think again. May be Sadiq or it may just be a smoke screen. I dunno. Really enjoyed the interview though and yes- your team is only as good as the talent of the players you put on the field. When many or most of your highest paid players are out with injuries you are not going to win a lot of football games. We lost tens to 100 million in salary to long term injuries last season. That’s a *huge* talent drain. Injuries aren’t an “excuse” at all either. Your first string players are first string for a reason. Anyone pretending that shouldn’t affect a team is ignoring reality.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:08 am
And this right here tells you all you need to know Guys totally FCKNG clueless
March 26th, 2026 at 9:09 am
Jason Licht … ‘“But we just had some unfortunate injuries. You know a lot of things led to it; you never want to use that as an excuse.’
Every year we hear the same … ‘Never want to use injuries as an excuse’. IF you have adequate DEPTH in the various position groups, injuries don’t have to be an excuse for a lousy season record. Too often the Bucs have lacked DEPTH however.
Looked all the way back to the 2019 season when Bowles first arrived to see if there might be any correlation between the games/days lost to injuries & our season records.
o 2019: 204 games lost to injuries … 7-9 record
o 2020: 169 games lost to injuries … 11-5 record
o 2021: 133 games lost to injuries … 13-5 record
o 2022: 177 games lost to injuries … 8-9 record
o 2023: 105 games lost to injuries … 9-8 record
o 2024: 204 games lost to injuries … 10-7 record
o 2025: 176 games lost to injuries … 8-9 record
On the surface, not seeing any real correlations there. In our best year injury-wise (2023), we only posted a 9-8 record, yet we had our best DEFENSE by quite a bit (ranked #5 allowing only 325 pts). Looks like our starting defense was healthy & DEPTH was a minimal issue.
In our 2 best years record-wise (2020 & 2021), we had the 2nd & 3rd least games lost to injuries, but we also had some pretty decent DEPTH to compensate for those injuries.
Last season’s injuries were somewhat less than in 2024, yet we posted a significantly better record in 2024. We dealt with the injuries better IOW. Last year’s major issue was lack of DEPTH … in key positions (QB & OLine especially). And THAT’S the issue that JL should probably be spending more attention to.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:11 am
Right now all teams are 0-0. Teams change players and nobody knows what the final rosters look like. Nor have injuries hit teams. Some will be in camp lost for the season. But guessing is all anyone can do.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:25 am
We had a great bye week? No you didn’t. The team came back worse after the bye, what is he talking about?
March 26th, 2026 at 9:37 am
Our only hope is to pump up the volume on offense and just forget about Bowles lousy defense. Even though we lost a HOFer we still have the best receiver room in the league. If what he did to us is any indication, Robinson will get the most out of this offense. Mike and White will be sorry they bolted.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:38 am
WRs are going to be real good!
March 26th, 2026 at 9:50 am
You never want to use that as an excuse…but I’m going to.” If he were such a draft guru, we wouldn’t have massive depth problems. Next man up only works if the next man up doesn’t suck.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:57 am
79% think more than 9 wins? Seriously?
Losing Evans and David. Keeping Bowles.
Nah. Not going to happen.
March 26th, 2026 at 9:58 am
Here is my excuse…. this defense gave up and could not tackle, could not cover, they were a laughing stock of the league.
I still have hope if this offense can stay healthy.
March 26th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Great bye week? WTF is he talking about?
And 79% who voted in the poll think more than 9 wins? Seriously? Losing Evans and David? Keeping Bowles? SVD? Bored Zyon? Unfinisher Yaya? Midget RBs?
Nah. Not going to happen.
March 26th, 2026 at 10:11 am
They’re drafting Sadiq. Buckle up!
March 26th, 2026 at 10:18 am
“Jason Licht Says Bucs Are Still Last Year’s 6-2 Team…”
And then he downed his 14th Bud Light of the evening and passed out.
March 26th, 2026 at 10:27 am
🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
March 26th, 2026 at 10:28 am
Fan polls mean nothing when you have a site and relishes in anger, misinformation, and desire for put down. I’m all for critique. But I’m also in favor of supporting our guys and know as a former player that hearing others cheer for you means something.
March 26th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Sure if you want to just look at small segments of areas yeah we were absolutely phenomenal but if you want to look at the whole picture as you should this team was horrible. Depth argument whatever, the defense was failing at basic fundamentals tackling, swarming to the ball, angles taken, play recognition you can cry depth all you want but a lot of that is coaching all teams are gonna crappy depth because if they were that good they would be starting this team needs better coaching like the desert needs water.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:00 pm
As bad as our D was last year – they gave us a chance to win some games at the end of the season…Our O in general didn’t not step up – we should have won at least 2 or 3 more games just making a play here or there at the end of games….Baker has to be better – I think this is a “Can we win with Baker” year…the Glaziers need to know that before giving him his next BIG contract…if not, we start ALL OVER
Go Bucs!
March 26th, 2026 at 12:22 pm
“It was a great bye week,” Licht told the official Buccaneers website.”
Great Bye-Week!? That is obviously NOT TRUE judging from the results alone. But HOW could it be when I heard that they were all given the entire week OFF with NO practices, and NO nuthin?
March 26th, 2026 at 12:28 pm
SB ~ LV Says: “Tom and his family are FOREVER 49er fans and have inside connections. I believe Tom encouraged and sold ME on the best fit for the final chapter of his career on many levels.”
It was reported during the process that Mike had been discussing his future plans with several others, including seeking advice from Tom Brady, since he was in the exact situation in New England.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
BUCS lacked sense of urgency after the bye…
before the bye week, baker was crowned MVP and BUCS SB champs lol
after the bye week, excuses rang out from injuries to players with no juice
we’ll see if things change
GO BUCS!!!!
March 26th, 2026 at 12:35 pm
I agree with Jason…BARRING a nightmare of injuries again.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:43 pm
Smoke and Mirrors, folks. A trash division is the ONLY thing that has saved this team over the past 4-years. NO ONE is ‘buying’ any of this BS anymore, other than the ‘delusional’ local homer, (&/or) the empty casual football fan who lacks depth.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:47 pm
@ SB ~ LV – John Lynch also was a HUGE influence on his decision.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
We’re just an X receiver shy of that 6-2 team (yes, Inknow M1K3 wasn’t available for those games… if you think this o-line won’t be as injured this season as they were last season (take a look at Tristan Wirffs age and the rest of the o-line’s for that matter), need a legit fast option X receiver. I’m coming around to BPA this season – because the organization pretty much bailed on finding an edge rush specialist.
If that BPA is Kenyon Sadiq, then take him. Reaching for a savior is hope – and I’ve been a Bucs fan too long to use that as a strategy.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
@ Aaron Says: “As bad as our D was last year – they gave us a chance to win some games at the end of the season…Our O in general didn’t not step up – we should have won at least 2 or 3 more games just making a play here or there at the end of games….Baker has to be better – I think this is a “Can we win with Baker” year…the Glaziers need to know that before giving him his next BIG contract…if not, we start ALL OVER.”
I believe you are dead on.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
Melvin Junior, that’s the least amount of capital letters you’ve ever used in consecutive posts. You usually use more than DJT.
March 26th, 2026 at 12:53 pm
It makes the most sense, and is just the reality of where this franchise currently stands.
March 26th, 2026 at 1:04 pm
bakerfan Says: “Here is my excuse…. this defense gave up and could not tackle, could not cover, they were a laughing stock of the league.”
So, how’d that “OFFENSE” look… What about Baker!? The DEFENSE was not the problem down the stretch. It was THE “Baker-led’ OFFENSE who couldn’t move the ball, sustain drives, or SCORE. It let them down. You are already aware of the numbers and each side of the ball’s league rankings. So, FACTS must not matter to YOU. You just spew.
March 26th, 2026 at 1:27 pm
Best-player-available mindset. Great Bye week? Still the same team that started off the year 6 and 2? Is he talking about the Bucs? Three 31 year old retreads are the best FA available? I guess so after all the teams trying to get better picked all the good ones. You meant a great bye week is spent in the Bahamas I assume. It damn sure wasn’t spent trying to get better. Maybe you meant laying around reading press clippings of how great you were.
It’s JL’s job to be optimist not delusional. This team is not any better overall than the team last year. The returnees from injury are the only hope of improving the record. It is obviously his excuse for doing nothing of impact during FA. Once again he is relying on drafted rookies to make the difference. Good luck with that. Recent draft history suggests otherwise. If lucky we might barely replace the talent lost.
JL’s job should be under heavy scrutiny. He’s been less than adequate since the superbowl when he had BA and Brady to tell him what to do. The Licht-Bowles tandem just isn’t working. Hopefully they can perform a miracle with the draft and what’s left of FA. Otherwise another sad year in the offing. Rolling the dice every year with these two has become a really bad habit. I hope the Glazers have something better planned.
March 26th, 2026 at 2:01 pm
I think he’s correct! Just add 9 more losses.
6-11
March 26th, 2026 at 3:39 pm
This team is not that team. 6-2 was a mirage. Probably not as bad as the team that went 2-7 but it’s closer to that now.
March 26th, 2026 at 5:42 pm
Joe’s polling on this site are about as meaningful as the Presidential exit polls.
Means absolute zero in terms of winning games.
It’s just fluff for those in need of the happy speak.
Remember last offseason when the Joes and Ira were predicting 11 to 12 wins? Actually, Ira picked 11 wins, one Joe picked 11 and another picked 10. –Joe
Never fear, Bowles is here. We now have two Todd Bowles!!! Yay!!!!
March 26th, 2026 at 5:51 pm
The “2-7” stuff is silly. In that stretch the Bucs played miserable teams. They lost to miserable teams. They barely won against the dregs of the league like the Cardinals. And the last game for all the marbles was uncomfortably close — and ultimately meaningless.
We know the formula to become a good team: Get good players and good coaching. We also see the formula for great teams: Get a good quarterback with a great defense and coach them up.
The Bucs just haven’t brought in good players. Licht tried with Hall and failed. He’s tried with Graham — hasn’t impressed. The less said about his Edge picks the better. Have to admit he hit on WR with JMac and EE. But Tez is the answer to some very stupid question — a fine reach for a gadget player with maybe some special teams potential but nothing more. As for CBs — we’ve lost more talent than he’s found.
This draft matters. We need to get some studs, not JAGs.
March 26th, 2026 at 5:53 pm
Thanks for the data Defense Rules, it seemed like we lost more games in 24 than that. My take has to last fall in the type injuries we had maybe because they were injuries to more critical positions. It for sure points to the weak coaching job last season . Like I ask before , how many wins constitute enough to declare that Bowles is not going to be fired after next season? I think 9 wins will be hard to achieve, IT’S a tough situation for fans cause I will never want the Bucs to lose even if it means firing a Coach that I don’t have faith in. So thats my delicate GO Bucs !!!!
March 26th, 2026 at 6:59 pm
The Bucs played one or two good games at the front of the schedule and won a few of those games by the skin of their teeth. The defense was hot garbage for most of the seaseon and especially the last nine games. And we all know the offense is going to have to carry the team because the defense is a joke and run by bozo the clown.
March 26th, 2026 at 8:49 pm
😂
March 26th, 2026 at 10:42 pm
Let’s face it, JL is just an ugly cheerleader. Joe, how you find inspiration in that vapid drivel is beyond me. He says nothing….targeted bap in fa? Injury excuse? I like our guys? This guy really has you duped. JL, tell us how you justify blowing your wad on McC and AWJ, losing 2 huge chunks in pay (Mike and Lavonte), and still watch the bap FAs walk on by. Licht is fos
March 26th, 2026 at 10:42 pm
i am a “in Jason we trust” guy but i dont see how you can have that view but still think you needed to fire the guy that had the offense 6 and 2;