Bucs GM Jason Licht was in good spirits Wednesday.

Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht gushed Wednesday about his working relationship with his head coach.

Licht reinforced what Bowles has told Joe the past two offseasons: that in the first round a team should pick the best player available, then you address needs in the second round.

A year ago, Bowles told media at the owners meetings that he had zero issue if the Bucs were to go offense in the first round, even though Tampa Bay was crying out loud for an inside linebacker.

The Bucs picked receiver Emeka Egbuka.

At Licht’s annual league-mandated pre-draft news conference yesterday, Licht talked about his study of tight ends. Some in the know think the Bucs will grab Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq at No. 15.

Licht, who is not a good poker player, did not push back on that idea, saying it would be “great” if the Bucs could land an athletic tight end, a true deep threat.

Then Licht began gushing about his strong working relationship with Bowles.

“He proved to me last year where he wasn’t upset with taking Emeka [Egbuka] where he says you have to take the best player that helps you win games, period,” Licht said. “So, I’m very fortunate to have a head coach that feels that way when we work together to make these decisions.

“I feel like I’ve said this every year, you can never go wrong with taking the best player. You’re going to be happy at some point that you did instead of trying to force a pick.”

Licht did drop a doozy of a nugget about Bowles behind the scenes at One Buc Palace.

“He hates the [description] ‘defensive-minded’ head coach,” Licht said.

OK, Joe cannot lay off a big fat fastball coming right down Central Avenue.

Bowles gets ticked that he’s called a “defensive-minded,” coach, eh? Is that because he’s ashamed of his defense?