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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could move on from a coach the New York Jets once didn’t want to a coach whom the Jets couldn’t keep.
Tampa Bay may fire head coach Todd Bowles after the season, and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could be next in line according to CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan. Bowles hasn’t panned out in Tampa Bay after a previous losing stint with the Jets from 2015 to 2018, and Belichick looks likely to move on from New England after a successful tenure that began with a Jets trade in 2000.
That fact and who Belichick would follow after in Tampa Bay would make it all the more ironic as Sullivan pointed out. Former longtime Patriots quarterback Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay in 2020 and led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win and two NFC South titles.
Brady also drew former Patriots along with him during his three years in Tampa Bay: Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Shaq Mason, and Logan Ryan. If Belichick took over the Buccaneers, he would have significant parts of the roster that Brady enjoyed in the 2020 Super Bowl run, which Sullivan noted.
“Yes, there would be something ironic about the Buccaneers again being the landing spot for a Patriots icon, but don’t sleep on this scenario,” Sullivan wrote.
Bill Belichick Worked With Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Before
If Belichick came to Tampa, he wouldn’t need to take on the general manager role. In addition, he’s quite familiar with Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht from their time together in New England.
“There is familiarity with the Buccaneers front office as GM Jason Licht had two different tenures under Belichick with the Patriots, including a period from 2009 to 2011 when he was the director of player personnel,” Sullivan wrote. “With that prior working relationship in mind, there could be a collaborative approach to roster building with Belichick and Licht in his hypothetical partnership.”
As Sullivan pointed out, the Buccaneers “will have over $60 million in cap space” to work with in 2024. Belichick could build with quarterback Baker Mayfield, whom “the Patriots reportedly liked coming out of the 2018 NFL Draft”, Sullivan wrote. However, the Buccaneers could draft a rookie quarterback in 2024 depending on draft position.
“If Belichick can turn the Bucs into the class of that division, he’s arguably looking at six wins out of the gate, which helps in his chase of [Don] Shula,” Sullivan wrote.
Belichick needs 15 wins to pass Shula as the all-time wins leader. Shula had 347 career wins. Belichick has 332.
Buccaneers Have Swung Big For Head Coaches Before
Tampa Bay’s first Super Bowl win came about amid a big-name coaching hire under the ownership of the Glazer family in the early 2000s.
“Historically, the Glazer family has never shied away from going after big-time talent and that includes the head coaching spot,” Sullivan wrote. “Back in 2002, this ownership group swung a trade with the [then-Oakland] Raiders to bring in Jon Gruden as head coach.”
The 2002 Buccaneers went 12-4 and went on to win the Super Bowl against none other than the Raiders.
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