Buccaneers: Jason Licht called out by Da’Quan Bowers
Former Buccaneers defensive end Da’Quan Bowers is not exactly keeping Jason Licht on his Christmas list.
Jason Licht, based on his body of work to date, is pretty much beloved around the Buccaneers. The team he has put together is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. The team earned a such a good reputation that top-flight free agents like DeSean Jackson wanted to come down to sunny Florida. Jason Licht is a solid, young executive with great ability.
However, in life, we all have enemies. Not everyone is going to love us, and that is true for Jason Licht as well. Clearly, a former player feels that way. Defensive end Da’Quan Bowers went to Twitter recently to give his opinions about Licht. Spoiler alert; it wasn’t very nice (warning: inappropriate language):
https://twitter.com/DaQuanBowers91/status/891306697783861248
Now, Bowers being annoyed with Licht is not exactly surprising, as Sander Philipse of Bucs Nation reminds us:
"The latter declined to give the former a new contract in 2015, then re-signed during training camp but didn’t make the roster. Licht then re-signed him late in the 2015 season, before letting him go in 2016, again."
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Bowers admittedly has motivation to be not happy with Licht. I think if any of us were fired, re-hired, and fired again, we would be annoyed with our boss. No matter what our job is, we want our respective futures to be safe. When our bosses treat us this way, none of us would be happy. To say that Bowers isn’t happy would be putting it mildly. December 25 will not pass with these two exchanging gifts, if you know what I mean.
However, it is really hard to believe that the statements are accurate. To say that this is anything more than a guy talking out of anger is highly unlikely. First of all, look at the core of this football team. Don’t get me wrong, there is player movement. Every team has player movement. But the core of the Bucs has stayed together, leading to the high expectations. Part of that comes from being involved with a quality organization, and Jason Licht is one of the front line members of that organization
Also remember that big free agents chose Tampa Bay as their destination. DeSean Jackson was the cream of the crop in this year’s free agent class. He chose the Bucs. Yes, part of that had to do with Jameis Winston and the rest of the offense. A guy like Jackson is going to prefer a team that he will be successful with. However, it also has to do with an organization making him feel the most comfortable. The primary negotiator is Mr. Licht. He probably made eye contact once or twice.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Licht has done some stellar work here, and players want to be here. This is sour grapes from Bowers, nothing more.