Jason Licht Banking On Hope
March 31st, 2026
Grilled about pass rush.
Joe doesn’t cover any other NFL team than the Bucs. So Joe doesn’t know the narratives other team leaders cling to, but it sure seems like the Bucs put a whole lot of stock in hope.
And you know what Joe thinks of that word.
Back during The Lost Decade, before the Bucs got good, and now in the post-Super Bowl window of this decade, the word “hope” was pasted all over the pass rush issue year after painful year.
Yesterday at the NFL owners meetings, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was confronted about the pass rush, specifically the edge rush. Licht was asked if the Bucs are even in the same “ballpark” with a pass rush that is needed to compete for a playoff berth.
Licht (again) broke out his hope chest.
“We, unfortunately, once again, had some injuries,” Licht began. “We were without Calijah [Kancey] for most of the year. We were very excited about David Walker, what he could do for us. And he got hurt.
“The jury is still out but the little that we did see [of Walker], and to see how he has been in the offseason and getting back from the injury, we are very pumped up about him.”
Now this is an example of what Joe has referred to about some of Licht’s statements. Licht’s been on a David Walker kick in recent weeks, but Joe is convinced Licht is saying this, in part, to give Walker a public boost of confidence.
Walker was hurt in the team’s very first padded practice last summer. So the only thing Walker, a fourth-round draft pick last season, has done with the Bucs — with the exception of one padded practice — is lift weights and practice underwear football. Joe does not know how that translates into any reasonable expectation of how Walker can put a quarterback on his backside in a game.
Again, hope.
Licht did confess the next Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp are not yet in the Bucs locker room. That still has not diminished his hope.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be a drastic turnaround,” Licht said. “I’m not predicting that right now. I’m just saying there’s some hope that this could be a very different look this year.”
Licht didn’t rule out drafting a pass rusher if the right guy is on the board when the Bucs are on the clock.
“I hate to keep saying it,” Licht said. “But I’m very excited about what the future holds at this point in the offseason.”
Maybe Licht is thinking between new defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, new edge rusher AQM and Walker, the three can combine for 9-12 sacks?
You know, hope.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:08 am
Licht “I’m not predicting that right now.” Maybe later? Is he going pass rush in this draft? OR, he thinks there will be a pass rush in ’27 once Bowles leaves at the end of ’26 and a new coach comes in.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:11 am
Ya can’t coach talent, or JTS wouldn’t be on yet another team
March 31st, 2026 at 7:11 am
I “hope” we don’t lose 12 games.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:23 am
lol David Walker? What has happened to Jason Licht? Might be time to consider moving on from Jason and Todd after the season.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:26 am
When you have hope in one hand and a pile of horsesh!t in the other, all you have is a pile of horsesh!t.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:27 am
Joe … ‘Maybe Licht is thinking between A’Shawn Robinson, AQM and Walker, the three can combine for 9-12 sacks? You know, hope.’
Is that so unrealistic Joe? That Robinson (2.5 sacks last year), Muhammad (11 sacks last season) and Walker (injured last season) together log at least 9-12 sacks? But yes, at this point (preseason) it is just HOPE (‘a feeling of expectation & desire for a certain thing to happen’).
None of us went into last season hoping that Kancey would miss all but 3 games … but he did. None of us were hoping that David Walker would spend the entire season on IR … but he did. Just those 2 things MIGHT have cost us 9-12 sacks by themselves. But then again, that’s why great teams have DEPTH. Of course, ‘next man up’ only works if it’s QUALITY DEPTH.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:31 am
They’ve been banking on hope like forever.
March 31st, 2026 at 7:58 am
What do you expect him to say? You actually think he’s going to come out and say “Your right we need a pass rush so we will draft one in the first round “! We are too close to the draft so he isn’t going to give away any tid bits on what his plan is. Plus everyone knows that he is going to stay true to his draft board. He says it every year. He can’t come out and say “this team sucks so we are really hoping the draft falls our way or we are screwed”? Everyone wants to think that they know better than the professionals. Let the man do his job. Go Bucs!
March 31st, 2026 at 8:02 am
Ahhh..hope. I hope I win the lottery – therefor I will quit my job. I hope I wake up a 6’4″ chiseled younger version of me – therefor I will no longer go to the gym. I hope Todd Bowles suddenly learns how to coach a defense – therefor I will bet a ton of cash today that the Bucs will finish as the top defensive team this year. Right – keep hoping Jason.
March 31st, 2026 at 8:04 am
HOPE IS YOUR WORST ENEMY IN THE MARKETPLACE — and you can add — ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD!!!!!!!
March 31st, 2026 at 8:35 am
Hope will not win 1 game !
March 31st, 2026 at 8:37 am
Pathetic excuse for a GM
March 31st, 2026 at 8:38 am
Seems more like HYPE than Hope.
March 31st, 2026 at 8:38 am
No, but if that is your goal, guess what is going to happen?
Shouldn’t an NFL team, much less fans, having higher standards and goals? You really believe this team is going anywhere when they have to bank on three guys to maybe get a total of nine sacks?
Talk about dumpster diving.
That’s the kind of crap we heard from team leaders during the Lost Decade.
March 31st, 2026 at 8:42 am
What else can you do though, sign a has-been or someone injured? Licht’s tried that and been burned. Or trade away the farm on one player? How did Green Bay feel about putting all their eggs in the Micah Parsons basket when he went out for the season to injury?
What he has done is sign someone that wasn’t a starter but produced… maybe the next Shaq Barrett. Maybe not but there were no other legitimate options.
March 31st, 2026 at 8:44 am
I HOPE we did not begin another LOST DECADE last season.
This year is the last hurrah for Bowles and Lichtbrain.
March 31st, 2026 at 8:57 am
I hope Joe stops posting click bait articles on ME13 and Todd Bowles and actually has some write ups on our new coaches
March 31st, 2026 at 9:04 am
Hope it’s just a word. Expecting the best possible turnout. Just a part of having a positive outlook. It doesn’t hurt anything as long as attempts are made to improve. Every team going into the offseason last year had HOPE that they’d have a better searson than the season before. It didn’t work out that way for Minnesota, Baltimore and Detroit… and the Bucs as well for that matter. It did work out that way for Seattle, New England and Indianapolis. All you can have is hope a few weeks before the draft. We’ll know a lot more when we see who was drafted. The Buccaneers front office, coaching staff and roster might as well have hope, there’s plenty of negativity in these posts and from the fans to level things out.
March 31st, 2026 at 9:17 am
Hope is not a strategy. It is the action required when you’ve got nothing else. That doesn’t bode well for the upcoming season.
March 31st, 2026 at 9:20 am
One thing for sure Joe, if Jason sits on his hands again and does nothing, in December one Buc is going to look like Minnesota. The riddles and BS may need a new front office somewhere else. Someone came here and taught them how to run things and now here we the fans are thinking, are we gonna keep sliding backwards or just head back to skid row this season??
March 31st, 2026 at 10:09 am
” Beatn round the bush”
March 31st, 2026 at 10:13 am
“Riff Raff”
March 31st, 2026 at 10:32 am
I hope he is right! It’s a Bucs Life