GM Jason Licht

Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht does not live in Joe’s head, but he is feared by other media types.

Licht has a history of keeping receipts, calling out media types who have taken shots at the Bucs. Heck, he’s even publicly mocked Cameron Jordan when he played for the slimy Saints.

Joe likes when Licht dives into the media/fan culture. More of that would be fun. Sports is supposed to be about entertainment.

When Licht hunted down Sports Illustrated national columnist and podcast Connor Orr for a public finger-pointing two years ago, media types took notice. Joe heard the buzz in various circles, and NFL Daily host Gregg Rosenthal went there during his recent assessment of the Bucs’ 2026 free agency moves.

Rosenthal is known well for his work on NFL.com and has had Licht on his show. Before handing Licht a grade of “D” for the Bucs’ signings and losses of the past two weeks, he felt compelled to pause and talk about how Licht called out Orr years ago and how that still moves Rosenthal to this day.

“He’s still in the “D” range here,” Rosenthal said of Licht’s free agency moves. “If they want to clip this and bring it back to me after all these moves work out well — Al-Quadin Muhammed actually ups his sack total — then I’ll be happy to take it.”

Muhammed, of course, is the Bucs’ free agent edge rusher signing. He had a surprising 11-sack season last year for Detroit as a part-time player.

Rosenthal wasn’t overly impressed by that signing and he referred to the Bucs adding defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson as “just a workman-like, rotational defensive lineman.” He also implied Robinson is overpaid at $10 million per year.

Overall, Rosenthal said there’s little to “hang your hat on” with the Bucs’ offseason, and Rosenthal also is skeptical the Bucs really wanted to keep Mike Evans. He added that the Bucs’ collapse did not get enough national attention because media was distracted by the imploded Ravens and Bengals.

Listeners to the Ira Kaufman Podcast heard the divide at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters when it comes to free agency. One Joe gave the Bucs a “D” and the other Joe felt good about a “C” grade, which was in line with fan poll results here.

.@jasonrlicht standing on business 🫡 pic.twitter.com/lqDkzNU9gm

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) March 1, 2024