The Bucs sit in rare territory as a team that’s won four consecutive division titles after winning a Super Bowl.
The architect of this sustained success is Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht, so Joe has talked to many people not named “Licht” about how the boss has executed during this historic stretch.
(Parts 1-4 of this series below and yeah, many more parts are on the way):
Joe sat down last year with Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg for insight into moves under Licht.
One nugget that struck Joe was the trade for Rob Gronkowski after the Bucs signed Tom Brady. That sure seemed simple on the surface. Brady wants Gronk; Gronk was unretiring and it was easy to assume he wanted to play with Brady only. And the Patriots had little incentive to keep Gronk if he wanted to move on.
Well, not so simple, Greenberg explained.
Greenberg lauded Licht for his patience on that trade.
The Bucs dealt a 2020 fourth-round pick for Gronk right before the 2020 NFL Draft, but a potential trade was in motion weeks prior, Greenberg said, and Licht would not pull the trigger.
Licht didn’t like the price tag and wanted to play it cool.
The requested compensation for Gronk was much greater than a fourth-rounder, per Greenberg, and the Bucs would have valued Gronk up to a second-round pick. He was still 30 years old and his talent level could have justified premium draft capital.
Still, weeks went by and Licht didn’t flinch.
“The price for Gronk was a lot higher,” Greenberg said. “Jason waited it out and was patient, the draft was really the deadline and we got it done like the day before the draft. … Jason let it play out and develop and I’ll give Jason a lot of credit on the patience.”
Imagine if Licht was too hungry to land Gronk and satisfy Tom Brady?
Say the Bucs dealt their 2020 second-round pick for Gronk and got back two fourth-round picks from New England along with the Hall of Fame tight end. Not a terrible deal on paper. But that second-rounder (No. 45 overall) became All-Pro Bucs safety Antoine Winfield Jr., a huge rookie contributor to the 2020 Super Bowl team.
Do the Bucs win the Super Bowl without Winfield’s critical forced fumble in the playoffs against the Saints, trailing by a touchdown in the third quarter?
In a future edition, Joe’s got an example of Licht being impatient on draft day and it paying off.
Winning With Jason Licht (Part IV): Underrated Move
Winning With Jason Licht (Part III) “A Victory Lap”
Winning With Jason Licht (Part II) — The Change Of Scenery List
Winning With Jason Licht (Part I) — The Turning Point Signing
Special Guest Jason Licht Joins The Ira Kaufman Podcast — Live From The NFL Combine in Indianapolis.