When it comes to team building, there is no doubt that NFL general managers have rarely taken this hard-working approach when identifying free agents who supplement their team’s core over Jason Licht, the general manager of BUCS. Back in the 2020 offseason, it’s time to add a piece or two as a lacking piece for competing teams, like when Tampa Bay added free agent moves like quarterback Tom Brady.
Licht stuck to the plan, but made a surprising move in the first week of the Free Institution. Outside of the regular re-signing key players, the team added external linebacker Haason Reddick. Looking at this from another perspective, Pewter Report alumni and Pro Football Focus lead NFL draft analyst Trevor Sickema joined Sunday’s Pewter Report podcast to assess what the team has done so far at NFL free agency Wild West before running a live mock draft.
Bucs’ free agency was “a little par standard on the course.”
Bucs WR Chris Godwin and GM Jason Licht, Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
Trevor Sikkema, he also co-hosts NFL Stock Exchange Podcast (I highly recommend this by the way), so far, I’ve covered in detail how BUC has been performed during free agency. Jason Licht likes to keep himself up, but the team also brought in Haason Reddick, Swing Tackle Charlie Heck, Inside Linebacker Anthony Walker, Cornrowback Kindle Vildor and Punter Riley Dixon for outside moves.
Not the flashiest addition to the outside of Reddick, but there are more signatures in the future. Additionally, Licht is more focused on building the core of the Bucs roster through the NFL Draft.
It is better to build a ship from the ship in the right way than to rush out into the water by drilling holes.
“I thought it was just something that they needed to do,” Sickema said. “Outside of some free agency periods here and there, Jason Licht’s free agency plans always have been, “Hey, we’re going to draft really well, and then, when it comes to free agency, we’re going to take care of those who want to protect this team.” If he remembers correctly that he likes to manipulate things, that was a bit of a par standard for the course.
Bucs GM Jason Licht and former QB Tom Brady – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
“You’re building your team’s health through the draft and not necessarily going out. Outside of Tom Brady’s year, it felt like you’re coming from outside with Tom Brady. Even then, the roster was very healthy and the core was there for how you proceed with your strategy. I thought it had a lot to look after yourself, but Haason Reddick’s move was really amazing.”
Licht has not deviated from the proven strategy he has worked for him and the Bucs front office for the past decade. He learned from his mistakes after his first free agency, where he brought in a big name that almost brought him with him. The right blueprint is to identify who fits within a building and mold them from the start of an NFL career.
This is part of the reason the team is known for its high character players and built a cohesive locker room that gels. They know what they’re looking for, but that’s not to say they don’t make a notable addition when they need it.
Jason Licht doesn’t want a headache, but Haason Reddick is different
Bucs Olb Haason Reddick – Photo by Cliff Welch/Pr
Haason Reddick characterized the 2024 season as “very strange” when he first spoke to the media after signing a one-year deal with the Bucs. After Reddick was traded by the Eagles to the Jets, he reportedly agreed to a new deal before it fell, and he never received it. The result was a two Pro Bowl pass rusher that handed out the first half of the season and then returned with an overwhelming result.
Trevor Sikkema believes Jason Licht and Co. will do his research and strip off the layers before taking him. The organization invites players to the vet who are better than any team in the business.
Reddick has connections with the coaching staff and there’s no doubt he has the potential To bring about the “it” factor that is rushing passersby.
“It was very confusing to see from afar what was going on with the Jets in New York,” Sickema said of Reddick’s last season. “This is someone who was very successful when he was in Philadelphia. He was very successful when he was used the right way. Earlier in his career, the team had said he was this off-ball linebacker. He’s really not an edge rush and is too small to become an edge rush. “No, no, no, you better run around passersby,” and you started making the most of him exactly until you reached the coaching staff and administration. It makes sense that the Jets in New York wanted him.
“Then there was that whole thing [contract situation]. Jason is usually away from those situations. He doesn’t want to deal with headaches, he doesn’t want to deal with all of this. He wants to go through the character evaluation process of drafting the right guys, those who believe they are passing through the Buccaneers. It suits the culture and then they take care of such a team. They must have reached the bottom of what happened last year. However, even on a one-year contract, “we need a better pass rush. We need someone to win one.”
Head coach Todd Bowles said he wants to put better pressure on the team’s four-man front line at the 2025 NFL combine and is outside linebacker Yaya Diaby after adding Redick to the trio of defensive tackles Vita Via and Kariya Kansie. If Reddick returns to the double-digit bag, he joins the front, led by someone from Vea, who orders double teams for Kancey and Diaby and young talent.
A zoom back and rating the entire Bucks roster throughout the first week of free agency, some may be critical of licht.
Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by Cliff Welch/Pr
“Why didn’t the team add defensive star power?”
Well, this is how the Bucs work, and given the circumstances it’s hard to argue that they’re not caring for the business.
“They held everyone they wanted from the crime they really loved last year,” Sickema said. “They hope to be able to make up for some of their changes on the defensive side of things with a good draft. I’ll give the Bucs an A-Type grade. They didn’t touch the corners, but they can’t touch every position, so it’s hard to say that.
“Bringing Chris Godwin back is clearly the most important thing, and I’ve introduced what kind of organization this is. It’s hard not to do that – they still have major cornerback needs, but it’s hard for me to not give certain realistic expectations of what it was for them.”
Watch PFF’s Trevor Sikkema on the latest Pewter Report podcast
Listen to more details on Trevor Sikkema’s analysis and check out the Live Bucs Mock draft in which he did himself and Josh Queipo below to travel through memory lanes of his time on the Pewter Report Podcast. Leave your thoughts in the comments below on how we did with our picks.
