The Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager, Jason Licht, is the 12th-best GM in the NFL. A recent NBC Sports ranking conducted by Patrick Daugherty put the Bucs GM right outside the top 10.
At first glance, this looks like a low ranking. There are only six GMs in the NFL who have a Super Bowl ring, and Licht is one of them. While that might not be a lock for the top six, the initial thought is that he would be top ten. However, while his track record is long with a high peak, there are enough lows to justify it.
The biggest argument against Licht that Daugherty argues is that he was carried by Tom Brady to a ring and to his best run of success. If you look at his track record without Brady, it is not nearly as strong.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht Needs to Win Without Tom Brady
Licht had been with the Bucs since 2014, and the team had not won a postseason game before Brady was there. The Bucs did not even make the postseason until Brady was there.
In his first three years as GM, he took them from two wins to six and then nine. However, he followed nine wins in 2016 with two straight five-win seasons and a seven-win season. The seven-win season led to Tom Brady signing with the Bucs.
They immediately won the Super Bowl and won another playoff game in the following year. They went 8-9 and lost in the playoffs in the last year of Brady.
To be fair, since Brady retired, Licht has taken the Bucs to the playoffs twice in three seasons. However, the Bucs have slowly been declining in that time. They went from losing in the Divisional Round to losing in the Wild Card to missing the playoffs.
Jason Licht Hasn’t Drafted Well Enough for Tampa Bay
One of the big issues for Licht is that his drafts have not produced enough from his higher picks. He hit on Mike Evans, Vita Vea, and Tristan Wirfs, who have been franchise changers. The rest of his top 50 picks are hit or miss.
Austin Sefereian-Jenkins was a top 40 pick under Licht. He also drafted Vernon Hargreaves and Noah Spence with his first two picks in the 2016 draft. His first two picks in 2017 were O.J. Howard and Justin Evans. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Logan Hall, and Calijah Kancey are other high-end picks that are either not on the team or will not be there much longer. This is likely why Licht is not considered one of the ten best GMs in the NFL despite climbing the peaks that he did.
Interestingly enough, Licht is not the lowest Super Bowl-winning GM on the list. Four of the six Super Bowl winners are in the top five of this list, but Mickey Loomis joins Licht as the two who are not highly respected. Loomis came in at number 20 on the ranking, far below Licht. To be fair, Loomis won the Super Bowl back in 2010.
Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Ranked Outside NFL Top 10