Jason Licht Admits He Got “Antsy” As Rueben Bain Fell In The Draft
April 30th, 2026
Rolled the dice.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht is stingy with his draft picks, specifically in the first round.
You rarely see him trade up in the first round and you rarely see Licht trade draft picks for veterans, though his trade for Jason Pierre-Paul was a landmark transaction that Joe believes was the catalyst to the Bucs building a Super Bowl team in 2020.
Appearing today on “Schein on Sports,” hosted by popular sports radio and television personality Adam Schein exclusively on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio, Licht walked Schein through what was going through his mind and heart when he saw Rueben Bain beginning to fall into the teens.
The Bucs selected at No. 15.
“First, there started to be a run on o-linemen,” Licht said. “Then, a quarterback went to the Rams. Caleb Downs falling a little bit to Dallas helped. And so when [Bain] started [falling] — at pick No. 12 — I was starting to get a little bit antsy, wondering if I should [trade] up.”
Whoa! Licht was thinking of trading up in the first round? Shows you what he thinks of Bain.
Licht’s only done that once, and that was just one spot up with John Lynch and the 49ers to grab Tristan Wirfs, which has been nothing less than a home run move.
But Licht got a hold of himself last Thursday night and decided to roll the dice and wait it out. Hope for the best. Licht knew he could get solid players with the picks he likely would have had to cough up for ransom to land Bain.
“Then, I just decided that if we stay calm, as calm as we could even though my heart was beating out of my chest, and that second-, third-, fourth-round pick this year I felt was extremely valuable,” Licht said.
“I decided to get selfish. I decided to keep those picks and wait for [Bain] to fall. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good, I guess.”
Licht has said in recent days that the Bucs’ war room exploded like he had never seen. But he added, there is a caveat to that statement.
“The room was more electric than any pick we have made in my tenure here,” Licht said. “Now keep in mind Tristan Wirfs’ pick was during Covid at home. So we weren’t in the draft room.”
Licht said his staff was and still is “gassed” how the Bucs lucked out on Bain.
So too are Bucs fans.
April 30th, 2026 at 4:41 pm
Gawd…. I hope this guy isn’t a DUD, there has been so much hype a lot of people will have egg on their face.
April 30th, 2026 at 4:48 pm
Joe you seem to forget that Jason Pierre Paul had a broken bone in his neck and the bucs reworked his contract before the 2019 season which made him a FA in 2020 and he resigned. I think if he didn’t hurt his neck I believe him and Shaq in 2019 both have over 12.5 each in 2019. Paul came back mid season and got 8 sacks in 8 games. His first game back was a hat trick. So getting Jason Pierre Paul was a turning point but I think most of the fan base at the time of the trade wasn’t high on him with him having the issue with his hand but 2018 he got 12.5 sacks.
April 30th, 2026 at 5:24 pm
Yeah I was getting antsy too! Better lucky than good – sounds like my golf game. Bain is angry and he’ll ball out to prove those other teams wrong!
April 30th, 2026 at 5:25 pm
Seems very much unlikely. Not impossible, but quite unlikely.
April 30th, 2026 at 5:28 pm
(That Bain will be a dud)
April 30th, 2026 at 5:29 pm
@Bakerfan
I hope he’s not either but I think Bain will be alright. That would’ve been the only way I would’ve stayed put & not traded down is if he ended up falling to them.
April 30th, 2026 at 5:57 pm
Bain a dud? Methinks not…
April 30th, 2026 at 6:00 pm
It was like top 5 equivalent Draft pick for the Bucs, if they were at 5, they would have still taken him. That is the kinda thing that can help a team pull a Pats/hawks middle to first turnaround.
April 30th, 2026 at 6:00 pm
A new JTS HOWARD pick….. LOL
April 30th, 2026 at 6:13 pm
Bain is a dud
April 30th, 2026 at 6:26 pm
Unless the Dline steps up and stays healthy, he’s gonna have the same stats as rookie Mike Green had for Baltimore last season. He was passed up 13 times,it wasn’t like licht traded down and ” stole” him from another team.. Hope he proves me wrong!
April 30th, 2026 at 6:53 pm
hc Grover feel sorry for you being on a Buc board and hating on this pick. Must be a horrible life you live. I hope things pick up for you.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:02 pm
HC Grover reminds me of Al Bundy ! He carries the ball around his living room sayn how wonderful he was back in the day!
April 30th, 2026 at 7:12 pm
Bain a dud? No Chance. HC Grover loved the Brasswell and Tryonka picks though.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:15 pm
My guess is that HC Grover has routinely failed in life and only feels good about himself/herself when others fail. Pathetic to say the least.
You’re an embarrassment troll.
Bain is a beast! Have never been this excited about a Bucs pick. Well maybe the Sapp pick – followed by Brooks. Franchise changing. Bain & Trotter & Scott – tone setters!
April 30th, 2026 at 7:20 pm
Any loafers on defense will be snatched up like Bain’s draft hat and will be ceremoniously dumped in a dumpster. We have dawgs now! Finally!
April 30th, 2026 at 7:24 pm
Give him number 9….New plan 9 from outer space…Hey folks look at my record here. I am the Guru. Not you. He will flop like the rest.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:29 pm
The Grover has a proven 100 percent correct track record.Yo Check It. Find 1 error.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:30 pm
JBF is canceling Grover… No worries. Watch and learn mods.
[Nope. — Joe]
April 30th, 2026 at 7:31 pm
I will call back when a reality mod is on duty.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:33 pm
Well no worries….Thou doth protest too much.
April 30th, 2026 at 7:34 pm
Nobody knows what kind of player Bains will be .Clowney was better coming out of college Hes a journey man now ..
Jus sayn .Im glad the Bucs got him and im looking forward to watching…Go Bucs!
April 30th, 2026 at 7:46 pm
Grover – take a pill bro
April 30th, 2026 at 7:59 pm
Jack
that is the problem Grover is on to many pills
April 30th, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Go Bucs! Let’s right this ship!
April 30th, 2026 at 8:14 pm
I want a new home office and a total change at 1 Buc….Unless they go well over 50/50. It appears the Bucs have given Bowles a silver platter. I do not think it will work. He is laying low and Jason is out front for him. This is a BOWLES DRAFT! Tell me it is not. Is the Zebra going to change his stripes???? I am no guru I just call it like i see it. Now I actually hope the Bucs go to the Super Bowl……. I am going to shut up now and wait for the season to tell the tale.
April 30th, 2026 at 8:15 pm
It wasn’t my dream scenario, but reasoned evaluation tells me that it was good value which I believe is true of every pick except Trotter who is not a good fit for the Bucs.
Both starting Bucs ILBs played over 60% of their snaps in coverage last year, and both ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in pass coverage. How is that helped by taking an ILB who ranked in the bottom quarter of the NCAA in pass coverage last year?
He is young – maybe the Bucs will fix – but we heard for a couple of years that the Bucs had fixed SVD – hoping, but not holding my breath.
If the Bucs have to again start an ILB who ends up ranking in the bottom quarter in pass coverage, it will be hard for Bain or anyone else to get to the QB before the opposing QB dumps the ball off to whichever receiver is covered by the weak link at ILB.
The only way that I see for them to make it work is to scheme to try to draw a pass to Trotter with Scott, Parrish, Smith and Winfield taking turns rotating after the snap to jump the route and protect Trotter.
But, if that is the case, they should be able to do the same thing with SVD I would think?
SVD was much better last season as a pass rusher and run defender than he was in pass coverage.
April 30th, 2026 at 8:23 pm
On TKraz Licht did mention why he traded up for Wirfs with San Fran. He said that he thought a team right below Tampa might contact John Lynch about leap frogging Tampa and that Wirfs was their target. He made the call to SF to move up 1 soot and to this day he thinks he was spot on. With Bain Jason claims that he felt that things were different with Dallas, the Rams and Ravens so he stood pat and waited a very long 20 minutes. Looks like Bain did not like the freefakl and took receipts, I hope he is the spark that turn chicken spit into filet mignon as far as pass rush goes.
April 30th, 2026 at 8:24 pm
Grover’s new name is 💩🤡. Joe I’m glad you brought up the JPP trade that was a thing of beauty by a great GM.
April 30th, 2026 at 9:02 pm
I watched some more Bain tape today… and I’m not saying anything new here, but man does he look impressive. I didn’t watch much of Bain leading up to the draft since I didn’t think there was any way he’d still be on the board, but the more tape I watch, the more I like what I’m seeing. He can, occasionally, have a hard time if a long armed tackle gets their arms on him, but that’s true of pretty much any player, regardless of their arm length. What I didn’t really appreciate previously is how smart he is, and because of that, how quickly he can figure out what is going on and blow up plays.
Again, nothing new about what I’m saying, but I don’t watch college football and only watch tape and read scouting reports leading up to the draft, and generally focus on guys I think we might get. So this is fun. Since he was spoken of as going as high as #2 in the draft, there’s a ton of stuff out there, so it’s a lot of bonus material to go through.
April 30th, 2026 at 9:18 pm
He reminds me a lot of Terrelle “T-Sizzle” Suggs
April 30th, 2026 at 9:55 pm
I thought they did good with this draft. Glad to see Licht didn’t end up trading up, and he even traded down and got another pick. The linebacker run started in round two and chances were that their guy Trotter would have been gone by the round 3 pick. Everything fell well and it seems like they got good value at positions of need.
April 30th, 2026 at 10:45 pm
Can’t cancel Grover.
Every post/bulletin board needs some humor… a clown to make fun of … their own court jester. 🤡🃏
Grover’s even the the goofiest character on Sesame St… it all fits
April 30th, 2026 at 11:14 pm
H.C. is just looking for some attention — and he’s getting plenty for his efforts.
May 1st, 2026 at 7:01 am
We got Bain because we missed the playoffs last year. That’s why we were in that position
May 1st, 2026 at 7:40 am
He is going to be a Bain in the Azz for our opponents.
May 1st, 2026 at 8:38 am
Imagine if Jacob Rodriguez had fell too. Zero question marks with him… 100% understood by everyone that he was the guy they wanted most in round 2.
May 1st, 2026 at 9:19 am
Bain falled to number 15. That’s what makes the draft exciting, emotional, crushing, and heart breaking. There is nothing like it in any sport. Bain fall was our gain, whereas Rodriguez was our loss.
If we won our division last year, we probably would have lost Bain to another team like Carolina.
Last year was a disaster due to so many injuries. 2026 is fresh start. This draft addressed last years weaknesses.
We should not only improve but win our division and hopefully advance deep into the playoffs.
May 1st, 2026 at 1:12 pm
Steve V. Says: Says:
April 30th, 2026 at 7:02 pm
HC Grover reminds me of Al Bundy ! He carries the ball around his living room sayn how wonderful he was back in the day!……….Now that is funny !!!
May 1st, 2026 at 11:43 pm
That made him antsy but retaining He Who Should Be Fired Yesterday is just cool. Thanks Jason. Maybe you can trade a few late round picks from next year for a scrub who will be selling insurance in 3 years.