Jason Licht Talks “Roster-Building” Changes
February 27th, 2026
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht is the fifth-longest tenured general manager in the National Football League.
It’s no surprisde that those in that top-5 club have all won Super Bowls and several division titles.
Licht is not the same guy who was hired in 2014 and presided over the second half of The Lost Decade.
During a visit to CBS Sports, Licht was asked by former Titans GM Ran Carthon (also a former Gators and NFL running back) how his roster-building has changed since Lovie Smith and Team Glazer brought him to Tampa.
“We all evolve,” Licht said. “And when you have the opportunity to stay on — and I’m grateful that I was, there’s plenty of times I wasn’t sure I was going to make it — I think you start to realize that you need to mitigate risk a little bit more and more with these players, and make sure that everybody [in the organization] is on the same page and everybody likes [the player].
“You don’t realize, ‘Just because I like the player as the GM, but everybody else is telling me this guy can’t play but I’m going to prove to them’ — it’s not going to work. I need to rely on everybody. I need to rely on the coaches. I need to rely on the scouts, obviously, who do a fantastic job for us. So, I think just making it more of a collective decision [on players] has worked well for us.”
That’s a candid take from a seasoned general manager. Joe is unaware of changes to Licht’s staff after last season, though Joe is aware of many on the coaching side of the building.
Joe is confident that’s not a coincidence.
February 27th, 2026 at 10:23 pm
Licht’s Losers.
Subtract Brady and that guy has not done a single thing but suck.
February 27th, 2026 at 10:32 pm
Stick to the trenches in round 1
February 27th, 2026 at 10:40 pm
Even he knows he probably should have been jettisoned with Bowles. Neither of them have done much without Arians around.
Thankfully…the AI glasses he know rocks will make him a drafting demon. Sack monsters and arse kickers forthcoming!
February 27th, 2026 at 10:42 pm
I know you like Licht, Joe. And you certainly know much more about him than those of us that read and post on your site. All we have to go on is his record which is both good and bad (whose isn’t, right?). If at some point, you would like to throw out a scorecard or summary of sorts illustrating that ultimately leads to which outweighs the other and by what margin, perhaps you could bring more of us on board with you.
NFL news will get slow after the draft. Might be a good filler in a slow time. Joe doesn’t believe in slow. And Joe doesn’t try to bring people “on board.” Joe writes what is important and interesting to Joe. Thankfully, fans are interested.-Joe
February 27th, 2026 at 10:43 pm
Quarterback #1 need! Mayfield be ok back up
February 27th, 2026 at 10:51 pm
The crap he and Bowles are spewing daily really shows how desperate they are. Backs are against the wall.
2027 will be the purge. He’s not a good GM. He’s a poser.
February 27th, 2026 at 10:52 pm
Licht was 34-62 before Brady took over as GM in 2020 – he’s been 27-24 since Brady gave him his job back – overall 61-86 – great picks like Jameis, Aguayo, OJ Howard, JTS, Trask, among others – great coaches like Lovie Smith, Koetter, Bowles, and Arians who was 7-9 before Brady banished him to his golf cart – not sure what Arians is still doing around One Buc, other than politicking for Bowles and doing shots of high-quality bourbon with Licht – Licht is going to bring in more stellar FAs like Reddick and more great drafts like SirVocea –
I really don’t see any future for the Bucs until both Bowles and Licht are gone
February 27th, 2026 at 10:56 pm
This comment section should go root for the Eagles. Bunch of dumb above this line. Let’s get right below this come on, I have faith!
Except for you Colin, can’t go wrong in the trenches.
Line of less dumb here:
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February 28th, 2026 at 1:09 am
What do the scouts say about Bowles’ coaching when they scout Bowles?
Oh. Ya. They probably don’t do that, Todd reports to himself so he has it all covered.
February 28th, 2026 at 4:39 am
Still don’t like him.
February 28th, 2026 at 5:02 am
Well, nobody is perfect. But he has listened at times to this forum. Seems like when he does, we draft good, when he doesnt, not so good. As a freely paid scout, you get what you pay for lol. But its pretty good that two guys i pushed hard for last year made it into DROY finalists and one got it (Schwesinger). All good though. I knew Schwes wouldnt make it to us in the 2nd so i said get a wr. Looked like he hit it out of the park with Egbuka at first but i guess that rookie wall hit.
One thing i know is we dont need to overpay for nostalgia and just keeping players who are injury prone. Note, i said “overpay”, i didnt say dont pay the men….pay them but reasonably if we want to have enough money to assemble some free agents that are worthy.
That Styles just showed out and will unfortunately not be there for us unless we trade up, which i would be for if todd was gone…but right now, no.
TE Sadiq showed out yesterday. Im not sure how good he would be blocking at the NFL level, but he’s def a top 20 guy. I just think we need ILB or O line (G) more at the #15 price tag….but I wont be disappointed if we do decide to go there (4.39 40 at his size WOW)… Endries did pretty good and i still have a 4th rd grade on him. (btw, Trask was one of the guys throwing the ball yesterday).
Its looking more like we may just have to go Offense with our first since it would be a reach to go D on the next tier of LB….so that means 2nd and 3rd rd’s on LB.
Personally, I want Styles or Ioane if they are there…..Sadiq? I could live with it…..or we could trade back.
February 28th, 2026 at 5:22 am
Cosmo! Giving me a reason to comment again! My guy. I’d like to see solving the edge rush problem by stacking some pieces maybe boye mafeh and Odafe oweh both signed would be a beautiful start
February 28th, 2026 at 6:53 am
Boye Mafe and Odafe Oweh sound good to me too. But, I don’t think they can afford both. They need to trade Godwin to a team like Pittsburgh, that has multiple picks and needs receiver help. They’ll take the cap hit this year. But, they’ll save 5mil. Use that pick to help move up to in round 1 above Miami to get Styles. Round 2 and 3 need to be edge and dl. DL needs to be a Vea replacement. I like Leo Chenel in FA. He won’t break the bank and would compliment Styles well. I’d try to get Styles brother too in one of the later rounds. He was fast at the combine. Then post June 1, do a player trade with Winfield Jr. offload his cap hit till next year. Resign Tucker and Ko Keift. I don’t even mind resigning Logan Hall to a cheap contract. He’s a decent Will Gholston replacement for depth.
February 28th, 2026 at 7:38 am
Without Brady, he’s been a below average GM.
February 28th, 2026 at 8:48 am
Gotta love all the JL haters out there. These guys clearly weren’t Buc fans in the 80s and 90s.
“Without Brady..and Gronk…and Brown…and JPP..and Evans..and Godwin..and Wirfs..and and and”
GTFO..
The guy built a championship roster and then after Brady retired, he managed a quick reload that allowed the Bucs to be highly competitive.
This just in to all the Madden fan boys, ALL GMs miss on picks and FAs. It’s not an exact science. His draft class last year was very good. He would probably be thought of much higher by the haters if it wasn’t for Bowles.
February 28th, 2026 at 10:16 am
Good call dabuc..No bucs fans in Wisconsin sorry cheesedic!
February 28th, 2026 at 11:04 am
Ring of LOSERS – .449% over 12 years – only won bc of brady
Licht sucked pre-brady and sucks now.
February 28th, 2026 at 11:44 am
Why does the head coach fire everyone on his staff but thinks he is doing great.
February 28th, 2026 at 12:01 pm
@Cosmo,
I hope the “fans” here in this comments section aren’t representative of all Bucs fans.
The average 5th grader should have more intelligent comments.
In the 2020 season when the Bucs beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, Brady didn’t play any snaps on defense, which held the Chiefs to zero TD’s.
Brady did change the culture, and upgraded the expectations, but the talent level in that game was much higher. And that championship level team was assembled by Licht, not Brady.
In the ensuing years, the front office had to do some shopping at the Dollar Store in order to pay off that credit card charged during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
For those wanting to throw Licht under the bus 5 years after he put a team together that won a championship, don’t ever purchase an NFL team. You’d make the owner and GM of the Cleveland Browns look like geniuses by comparison.
February 28th, 2026 at 12:54 pm
If Bowles is advising him on the defensive players he’s drafting and then not developing, I think maybe he should just nod and smile and then draft someone else.
February 28th, 2026 at 1:06 pm
The Buccanese Fire Drill continues.
February 28th, 2026 at 1:19 pm
B Brady brought Gronk AB and Fournette
None of Licht’s crap scored in the SB
Whose fault is it that we ran up the dead cap? Licht’s!
We have the dumbest fans on Earth. SMDH. Brady is the ONLY REASON WE WON A SB. Jason Licht sucks without Brady.
$184 million spent on OFFENSE
$102 million spent on DEFENSE
The defense stinks. It’s not just coaching but a crappy job by the GM.
The GM is a loser with Tom Brady. Surprise surprise. 12 years and he’s .449 loser %
.449 loser…ring of honor? LOL. EMbarrassing AF
February 28th, 2026 at 2:04 pm
@buccintimeforchanges Says:
We have the dumbest fans in earth.
_________________________________________
Yeah, look in the mirror.
Blaming Licht on running up the dead cap when 99.9% of all front office personnel, coaches, & fans in this sector of the universe understand that that was the price paid to bring in the talent needed to build a championship team isn’t a good look.
February 28th, 2026 at 2:04 pm
^ and who helped bring Brady down here and helped that team that won the SB? Licht and many of Licht’s picks that I pushed for!!! Big V, LB White, Wirfs, Godwin, Winfield Jr……some i might have missed…..so STFU troll!!!
February 28th, 2026 at 4:19 pm
@1996 – Do you think any team can be successful with the offense taking up 2/3rds of the cap and the defense only getting a third? Does that seem like a huge imbalance to you? Yes or no? I don’t need a bunch of excuses.
February 28th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
Pretty obvious JL has not collaborated with his staff about JTS, Braswell, and on and on at least 5 others who “could not play”. Yet, he buddies up to players as if it is some need of his. This is the prove it year for JL and TB. They must be effective. Either they will or they will not.
February 28th, 2026 at 6:26 pm
@PMSMAX – LOL. WHite? Gone. Worthless. Godwin? Broken. Vea? At the end of his career. Wirfs? STUD. AWJ? Not living up to his contract. Cut the emotional crap and look at this team honestly…they sucks from head coach on down. Baker is hit or miss. I am hoping he returns to form. We really need a QB and he can play for a few more years at min. Licht isn’t all that. The defensive talent is below average. He sucks. He can draft online and that’s about it. Maybe WR but he sucks as a GM. Spytek was bigger than you think(maybe the Joe’s can back that up).
I love the Bucs not some loser GM. The Bucs. Clean house after this year.
February 28th, 2026 at 7:21 pm
How many truly difference making GM’s are in the game right now? 1-2 at most?
February 28th, 2026 at 7:50 pm
How is our cap do bad? Who do we really have that we are over paying
February 28th, 2026 at 8:45 pm
Linderbaum center ,Huntley backup qb,Kolar tight end , J.K. Do bins rb,does he count? Van noy edge, …Your new Baltimore Buccaneers!
February 28th, 2026 at 8:48 pm
Jones Hopkins, Ricard
February 28th, 2026 at 8:53 pm
Forget noy ,Jones is the pic
February 28th, 2026 at 9:00 pm
buccintimeforchanges Says:
@1996 – Do you think any team can be successful with the offense taking up 2/3rds of the cap and the defense only getting a third? Does that seem like a huge imbalance to you? Yes or no? I don’t need a bunch of excuses.
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It’s unusual, but there have been successful teams in the past with an imbalance. But the reason for the lack of success for the 2025 Bucs was mostly for reasons IMO that had little to do with this issue.
There was a dramatic drop in points per game scored by the offense, due to injuries, especially on the O-line, and a change to an inexperienced OC.
As bad as the defense was, the Bucs would still have gotten into the playoffs if their offense didn’t regress so badly. We’ll never know how that would have ended, but we did see the Bucs beat Seattle IN Seattle, in a shoot-out, even with a bad defense.
Another factor in the Bucs’ lack of success was injuries to both Walker & Kancey. Had they been on the field, they would have put more pressure on the QB, making the whole defense look better. And there was regression by a couple of players as well, including Zyon & David.
Obviously, the defensive talent needs to be upgraded. But I’m sure that that will happen in the months to come.
February 28th, 2026 at 9:29 pm
It doesn’t matter if the offense takes a crap if you have a great defense, ask trent dilfer
February 28th, 2026 at 10:26 pm
Oh my. When your collective stinks how can you soar and make great picks.
We need bigger and stronger players in defense. We need players who love to play the game all day
February 28th, 2026 at 10:47 pm
Licht thinks Todds are great. That should be good enough for all of us. And if the team sucks, it won’t be due to the Todds.
March 1st, 2026 at 12:26 am
@1996 – it was a yes or no question…not an excuse BS answer
March 1st, 2026 at 8:26 am
Whatevs Says:
“Subtract Brady and that guy has not done a single thing but suck.”
Stupid and 100% wrong. Anyone who is not a troll could provide you with a long list of great moves Licht has made. His job is to provide the tools to succeed. And he does.
The coaches and players have to take advantage.
March 1st, 2026 at 8:34 am
MadMax Says:
“That Styles just showed out and will unfortunately not be there for us unless we trade up, which i would be for if todd was gone…but right now, no.”
I haven’t read the comments past this statement yet, so you may have already addressed it, but I’m curious about the motive of this statement.
Is it because you would rather the team fail than make Bowles look good?
March 1st, 2026 at 8:36 am
Fanofdabucs, well said.
March 1st, 2026 at 11:37 am
Jason Licht still sucks LOL