Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht has done a masterful job in many ways over the last few years, orchestrating the acquisitions of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, playing salary cap Tetris to make the contracts he has to renew fit into our budget often through creative and resourceful cap management, and picking quality players in the draft(Devin White, Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr. we’re all recent draft selections).
Of course, there have been some rough draft picks(yes I am still salty about Robert Aguayo in the second round), some signings that didn’t work out(Antonio Brown is a prime example), and off season suspense in spades.
All in all, Jason Licht has proven that he’s willing to be aggressive, and make whatever decisions he feels will put the Buccaneers in the best position to win…..
So what should be on Lichts mind right now?
Well……
1. What does he do with our linebackers? There are two star linebackers, Lavonte David and Devin White who both need new contracts, and Bucs fans don’t want to lose either. Either of them would be the best linebacker on most other teams, but we have both of them, and they need contracts at the same time. I hope that Licht can pull off the salary cap wizardry to keep both of these key defensive players versus picking between the two.
2. Who is our Quarterback of the future?
At this point, Kyle Trask does not appear to have taken the developmental steps to be that guy, and there’s no way to say that he can’t be, but he certainly hasn’t gone out of his way to inspire that confidence either.
Well then, who else can be? The Bucs have the right depth at the skill positions and a strong defense, so if Tom Brady does leave Tampa after this season, we need to have a firm succession plan in place to minimize the step back that will inevitably come. The problem is, there aren’t a lot of really solid options.
Jimmy G does not seem like the guy to keep us as a Super Bowl contender, there really aren’t many other quality candidates left, and a rookie would be an unknown. At this point, I don’t believe that our quarterback of the future is on our roster, and I think the best chance we have of finding him will be through the draft.
3. Can Tampa Bay still attract high level free agents, and keep our quality players once Tom Brady leaves?
I think one of the biggest fallouts of losing Tom Brady…. aside from just, you know, losing the best QB to ever put on shoulder pads…. will be losing the advantage that having him on your team gives you when interacting with other players.
At this point, Licht has been playing the free agency game and roster re-signings on easy mode for the last few years because everyone knows that whatever team Tom is on has a significant chance to hoist the Lombardi at the end of the year. Simply put, Jason Licht has been used to getting and keeping the players he wants without really having to try.
How do you think Jason Licht should solve these issues? Tell me in the comments below!
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