Super Bowl champ Bucs focused on building depth in NFL draft – WJXT News4JAX

TAMPA, Fla. – Jason Licht is enjoying the perks that come with being the general manager of a reigning Super Bowl champion.

That includes the challenge of getting a late start on preparing for the NFL draft and not having a selection until the tail end of the first round as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to get acclimated to what life’s like with Tom Brady.

“It’s a good problem to have,” said Licht, who already has had a successful offseason by making good on a bold promise to do whatever necessary in free agency to keep an all-star roster assembled around Brady. With all 22 starters from the Super Bowl returning, the Bucs find themselves in unfamiliar territory for a club that missed the playoffs 12 consecutive seasons before Brady’s arrival set a new course in March 2020.

For the first time in franchise history, Tampa Bay truly enters a draft without a need for immediate help at any position.

“It is really a feeling this year that literally just about any player at any position we could take,” Licht said before cutting himself short.

“I guess I’ll say I won’t take a kicker,” the GM added with a smile, mindful of recent draft-day blunders including Tampa Bay’s selection of Roberto Aguayo (second round, 2016) and Matt Gay (fifth round, 2019), both of whom were released after disappointing rookie seasons.

“But liberating is a probably a very good word’’ to describe what’s it’s like to be picking 32nd overall compared to the top 10. “It’s a luxury we can pick the player we think is going to be the best in two years instead of two games.”

And despite having no intentions of moving on from Brady, who signed a contract extension that’ll keep him in Tampa Bay for at least two more seasons, Licht and coach Bruce Arians have not ruled out selecting a quarterback at some point in the draft.