Hall Of Fame GM Says It Will Be Difficult For Jason Licht To Pass On Kenyon Sadiq
April 14th, 2026
Bucs GM Jason Licht
Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht and his front office team spend more than a year developing their annual draft board.
Teams consider that board to be a work of art, the culmination of many millions of dollars in evaluation.
Will the Bucs stick to theirs if it means drafting an elite tight end prospect at No. 15 overall. That could be the question of Round 1 when the draft kicks off in nine short days.
Kenyon Sadiq is this year’s blue chip draft prospect, a guy Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian thinks Sadiq likely has more upside than Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
“[Sadiq] is a much more natural receiver than Kyle Pitts. You can use this guy in a lot of places,” Polian said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, adding the Bucs would be and should be very tempted to draft Sadiq if he’s starting them in the face.
“He’s probably gone [in the draft] by then, but I bring it up because they re-signed Cade Otton. But if you have a tight end [available] of Sadiq’s ability, it’s hard to pass.”
Joe is intrigued. If freakish athlete Sadiq (6-3, 241 pounds) is indeed on the board for the Bucs, Licht would have a hell of a decision to make if Sadiq is the top remaining player on the Bucs’ draft board. Do you scout and scout and scout only to pass on the guy your research says is the best player available?
Polian thinks Sadiq won’t be there for Tampa Bay and they’re very likely to pick an edge rusher.
Joe would agree with that assessment, but back in 2017, very few thought stud tight end prospect O.J. Howard would fall to the Bucs at No. 19 overall.
Sadiq is a significantly better athlete than Howard was.