Jason Licht On Trey Hendrickson “We Were In On That A Little Bit”
May 6th, 2026
Was a fail a win?
Joe is in too good of a mood this morning to wing a cup of Community coffee across the JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters offices, or start kicking the empty beer bottles or crushed Mountain Dew cans, or frisbee the empty pizza boxes in disgust.
But Joe admits to letting out a deep sigh.
Yesterday, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht was having fun with Pat McAfee on McAfee’s BSPN show. Licht noted how you can never predict all the twists and turns of the NFL draft that allow a certain player to end up with a specific team.
In this case, Licht was talking about the Bucs drafting edge rusher Rueben Bain in the first round.
What if Sean McVay doesn’t get stupid and instead of picking a second-rate Alabama quarterback, picks Bain? What happens if the Maxx Crosby trade does get completed? Do the Raiders select Bain with the pick they would have received from the Crows?
What if the Crows don’t pick an offensive lineman right before the Bucs and instead, defensive-minded Crows coach Jesse Minter picks Bain?
Or, what happens if the Bucs signed free agent Trey Hendrickson?
“We were in on that a little bit,” Licht said as McAfee’s eyes grew as wide as half-dollar coins.
At first, Joe just wanted to scream. That’s nothing to brag about! Trying to land a big fish of a free agent, especially a defensive end like Hendrickson, it’s a simple pass/fail proposition. You either successfully signed him or you failed. There’s no in-between. No horseshoes and hand grenades grading here.
But then it clicked for Joe what Licht may have been suggesting. If Licht was successful luring Hendrickson back home to Florida, like his proxy Adam Schefter claimed when he said Hendrickson was significantly interested in signing with the Bucs, does that mean Licht would not have drafted Bain?
Remember, Licht has said on several occasions since the draft that he thought Bain being available at No. 15 was a pipe dream. He didn’t really entertain the possibility because he thought it was so far-fetched.
“Not saying Rueben is better than Hendrickson,” Licht said. “I’m just saying now we got our draft pick that everybody is excited about.”
Well, looking at the Bucs roster and what Licht did in free agency, if he did get Hendrickson, the math probably adds up that Licht wouldn’t have drafted Bain.
Remember, Licht also signed in free agency Al-Quadin Muhammad, who had 11 sacks last year, and veteran lineman A’Shawn Robinson. And already the Bucs have YaYa Diaby.
So yeah, Joe sees what Licht was getting at. Had he signed Hendrickson, Bain may just be on the Stinking Panthers’ roster right now.
Not getting Hendrickson might become one of those wild NFL stories — a failure that turned out to be a massive win.
"We were in on Trey Hendrickson a little bit..
Maybe it worked in our favor now getting Rueben Bain" ~ @jasonrlicht #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/YXWnNRmvwO
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 5, 2026
May 6th, 2026 at 4:46 am
The Bucs weren’t going to give him the years or guarantees he wanted, so no. It just happened to work out for the Bucs, they got Hurricane Bain!
May 6th, 2026 at 5:33 am
I think it’s more likely that Licht would have not signed Muhammad if he landed Hendrickson. Either way, Bain was going to be our pick once he fell to 15 regardless of what happened in FA.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:07 am
Would still like another vet EDGE and Bucs version of a Fearsome Foursome. 4-2-5 base defense with occasional 6-7 press man front. Hire Jim Schwartz and tell TB he is full time HC.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:09 am
How Bain Landed in Tampa — Two Dominoes
Baltimore agreed to send two first-rounders — including No. 14 — to Las Vegas for Maxx Crosby. Crosby flies out, fails his physical, doctors flag a degenerative knee issue from his January meniscus surgery, deal dies. Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said he was “gutted” — pivoted, signed Hendrickson for $112M, and used that reclaimed No. 14 on a guard to protect Lamar. Bain slides one spot to 15.
Tampa wasn’t sitting idle. Licht chased Hendrickson in free agency — too rich, gap reportedly close to $10M per year. Then went after Greenard on the trade market.
Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler:
Every door closed. Bain fell into his lap at 15.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:43 am
Joe,
Getting Hendrickson is not a pass/fail. There are no one man teams in the NFL. If the supporting cast is inadequate because of all of the cash being vacuumed up by one player, the team will suck!
Someone should use AI to evaluate it. I suspect that the team with the greatest added value under the cap limit would be players on their rookie contract plus veterans who were at about the top 35 percent for their position with no superstars but solid value and playable depth everywhere.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:47 am
If we signed Hendrickson we most likely would lose Baker Mayfield. Can’t have 2 40-50 million/year players on this roster and have a complete football team. So glad we didn’t get Hendrickson! Plus we’d only have him for a couple of years instead of Bain for 5.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:47 am
Instead of trading for Hendrickson and giving up draft picks, the Bucs used all that capital to bring in a couple of players in free agency who had multiple sacks , plus Rubin Bain Jr.in the draft. This was a great draft for the Bucs. With Mike Evans abandoning the ship, his salary can be used to pay and keep key players in Tampa.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:48 am
Both the Raiders and the Bengals sucked. With those awesome DE’s. That’s because of how expensive they are.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:52 am
Joe likes to play the short game. Jason doesn’t have that luxury. He has to play for today and tomorrow. SP states it well. What will Trey look like in two years? Who knows. It’s all a calculated gamble that we get to sit back and diagnose when and where we want and conveniently forget when we get something wrong. It’s the fun part of being a fan. I got the 49ers right last year when so many on this site were calling them out for the previous season. I remember that well. I’m trying to remember when I was last wrong. Hmm, can’t seem to remember.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:57 am
Pass/fail also imlies that it was all on the Bucs as to whether Hendrickson came here or not. He gets to make a decision.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:38 am
I’m ok with passing on Hendrickson. Don’t see a lot of upside for an older defensive player that went through a core surgery. Maybe he proves me wrong with better production this year, but seriously doubt it.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:43 am
It’s easy to look back but I also believe those scenarios are true if they had played out that way. Raiders and Ravens both would have been in play for a DE and maybe forced JL to move up if he really wanted Bain. The only one I would have traded for would have been Crosby. Maybe, and I said that then. Sometimes things play out for you if you’re patient, JL has learned that. I would not trade Bain for either Hendrickson or Crosby. And if he would have been gone I would have been fine with Messidor.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:47 am
It worked out for us, because we didn’t have to pay Hendricksons’ ridiculous salary and got a stud that is a decade younger while also being a few million dollars cheaper per year.
I think Lichts’ point is that, the process he and his team abided by not only worked out in terms of getting what they felt like they needed, but it also justifies their prudence in not jumping into a bidding war for a 31 year old pass rusher.
Could be like the Bengals, who touched their toes and traded away a 1st round pick for Dexter Lawerence. Just for the Giants to take a top 10 pick and fill the spot left by dealing Lawerence with DJ Reader.
May 6th, 2026 at 9:12 am
It is what it is, time to make the best of it!
May 6th, 2026 at 10:12 am
Jason could’ve done the one right thing. He failed.
Lucky Light is lost.
May 6th, 2026 at 10:16 am
This has been reported for a while. The Bucs offered him a 2 year contract and he went with the 4-year one. At his age it was probably the wise move.
May 6th, 2026 at 11:18 am
It would have only been a failure if JL gave into the long-term deal Hendrickson wanted. I believe JL had an interest and did his due diligence. He may have been willing to offer a shorter term deal (smart) than giving a longterm deal with a large cap hit to a guy who is coming off injury and will be 32 this year.
I highly doubt Hendrickson plays out his 4 year 112 million contract with 60 million guaranteed.
May 6th, 2026 at 11:27 am
This is exactly like when I fail to take out the trash and my GF does it.
After which I say, “I was going to do that”. She loves that! (Sarcasm)
At this point why even bother to make such a statement.
It’s no wonder we have zero pass rush. Just isn’t a priority for the scheme.
Apparently the “just gotta get better” phrase is enough for this regime.
May 6th, 2026 at 11:51 am
Smoke Porterhouse Says:
“Hurricane Bain!”
Okay…I love that nickname!
May 6th, 2026 at 11:55 am
Al-Quadin Muhammad was an okay backup plan, but he had one good year in his career. He’ll compete with YaYa for a starting role, and he might be ready to excel at age 31…maturity tends to help give a could years of greatness for some players.
He went from team to team his whole career…so at this point he’s going to be quality depth.
May 6th, 2026 at 11:55 am
Also, we are his 7th team.
May 6th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
Overpay a 31 year old pass rusher I didn’t want that in the first place. Joe screaming about try go to the closet and scream no one wants to hear that we got a 21 year old premiere pass rusher in the draft some say the best one and at the very least top three you should be doing kartweels buddy.
May 6th, 2026 at 2:25 pm
Massive win? We dont know that.
We do know that Hanson was a monumental disaster that cost us the final potential of Evans lavonte even dean and then Hendrickson and maybe more if bain isnt a miracle.
That’s a lot of capital burned up searching for an edge rusher.
As bad as the rays hunting for a catcher.
No fan gets it perfect.
May 6th, 2026 at 4:04 pm
Oh no, we didn’t add a 31 year old free agent 🙄
Maybe we did learn something from Reddick.
May 6th, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Personally I’m glad Licht is responsible in free agency and the trade market. It would have been easy for Licht to get desperate and waste significant draft and salary cap resources.
Reddick was a bust but it was a one year deal, far from the top of the edge market, and we were therefore able to move easily on to a different plan in 2026 by signing AQM and drafting Bain.
May 6th, 2026 at 6:35 pm
Licht meant if the Ravens hadn’t signed Hendrickson then they might have drafted Bain at 14 instead of the guard.
May 6th, 2026 at 8:03 pm
I don’t think Trey Hendrickson is going to be worth the money that the ravens paid him, I’m very happy. The Bucks did not sign him to that deal. It’s a lot of money for a guy that’s over 30 that was injured last year and you never know what he’s gonna do in the future.