SI.com: Mike Greenberg Future Hot GM Candiate
June 19th, 2026
“Greeny, just don’t chew on a Gatorade bottle in the interview and you will be fine.”
Back when the NFL regular season finished, list season for some began right away.
(Yes, Joe is like a squirrel with nuts: Joe reads an interesting story with no time element involved and Joe stores it for when food is scarce before the start of training camp.)
This is one example.
Albert Breer of SI.com put together a list of his top future general manager candidates. He includes Bucs assistant general manager and head capologist Mike Greenberg.
Buccaneers assistant GM Mike Greenberg
Greenberg’s background is on the cap side, but over the last few years he and since-departed John Spytek, now the Raiders GM, became Jason Licht’s closest confidants, which exposed Greenberg to every area of the operation. He also showed an ability to pivot in setting the team’s cap up without any debt, which allowed the team to turn and build aggressively after landing Tom Brady in 2020. And since Brady retired, Greenberg’s helped engineer a youth movement, infusing the roster with a bevy of draft picks that have formed a new core around Baker Mayfield, with a clean cap and the team set to play for a fifth straight division title this weekend.
Breer is right. Greenberg is a wizard with the salary cap and that’s his background. But he’s a very smart guy, so Joe is sure some of Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht’s football acumen has rubbed off on him.
But Joe is also guessing Greenberg, if he did become a general manager elsewhere (he has interviewed) would bring in a football guy he knows and/or trusts as his right-hand man. That likely would mean he would cherry-pick someone from the Bucs (vice president of player personnel Mike Biehl, for example) or maybe someone Jon Spytek would recommend from the Raiders.
There’s a reason why Team Glazer and Licht have kept Greenberg aboard the Bucs pirate ship as a numberscruncher for some 16 years. Shot-callers tend to want to keep strong employees, unless you’re lousy Lovie Smith.
June 19th, 2026 at 2:00 am
How Baker, Vita and Twocoach are dealt with is what all eyes should be on.
June 19th, 2026 at 2:42 am
Joe, I feel Greenburg is a Bucs treasure. I hope he never leaves.
Also, if you didn’t change some setting, I think I figured out the issue with always being sent to moderation.
I tend to copy and paste other commenter’s coment in my own so I can address them.
Tonight, I tried not pasting anything into my posts, and every one got thru.
Assuming you didn’t fix the issue yourself, I think pasting text into my comments may have been causing the mod issue.
If you DID do something…THANK YOU!
June 19th, 2026 at 2:44 am
I feel Greenburg is a Bucs treasure. I hope he never leaves.
Also, Joe, if you didn’t change some setting, I think I figured out the issue with always being sent to moderation.
I tend to copy and paste other commenter’s coment in my own so I can address them.
Tonight, I tried not pasting anything into my posts, and every one got thru.
Assuming you didn’t fix the issue yourself, I think pasting text into my comments may have been causing the mod issue.
If you DID do something…THANK YOU!
June 19th, 2026 at 2:44 am
I feel Greenburg is a Bucs treasure. I hope he never leaves.
June 19th, 2026 at 3:10 am
“since Brady retired, Greenberg’s helped engineer a youth movement…”
HaHa – “helped engineer a youth movement” actually means the team was largely forced to rely on cheap drafted and UDFA talent the previous 3 years while trying to pay off over $180M in debt incurred during those Brady years….
“with a clean cap ”
Um – not exactly – the Buccaneers currently have more than $75M in debt to contend with over the next 3 years – mostly in the form of “void years” at the conclusion of contracts for Mayfield ($30M), Godwin ($8.3M), Winfield ($12M), McCollum ($5.15M), Nelson ($2.6M), Bredeson ($2.53M), Vea ($2.3M) and this year’s hit of $13M for dead $ at the end of Evans’ contract.
Greenberg is one of the best – if not THE best in the business as a “capolologist” – but his abilities as a talent evaluator are going to be pretty limited compared to Licht and Spytek. So I’m not so sure he would be a very good General Manager outside of the comfortable cacoon Jason Licht has created here in Tampa Bay…..
June 19th, 2026 at 7:45 am
Greenberg could include the use AI to navigate Cap cost and other costs for the organization.
People are worried about AI taking people’s jobs. So it still important to have a Jason Licht to evaluate player talent.
The old saying of you are relevant until I replace you will always be there.
June 19th, 2026 at 9:19 am
Or Greenberg stays put after the great cleanse, should Jason, Todd, and Baker engineer another subpar season
June 19th, 2026 at 9:27 am
Would the Glazers elevate Litchi Executive VP and promote Greenberg to GM?
June 19th, 2026 at 9:33 am
I hope he gets the GM job here.
June 19th, 2026 at 9:41 am
he’s done a great job. for losing three important players the bucs are set this year and next with the exception of the cornerback position. you could argue they’ve upgraded the front seven a lot. knowing what we know now it’s surprising they went 8-9 last year when they were so injured and old, this year they’ve brought in a fresh infusion of power in the front seven lead by the steal they got in the first round. if they can stay healthy in the trenches they could go 10-7?! bring on the nfl!! even psyched for the first preseason game bring it on! …but bubble wrap our starters until september
June 19th, 2026 at 10:59 am
He has his work cut out for him in ’27. Good luck with the cap. Yaya, Vea, Baker, Mclaughlin, Mauch and the several 1year FA rentals we just signed coming due. Who stays and who gets axed will be a little dicey. Might be a good time to bolt. Let JL take the heat.