Bucs general manager Jason Licht has been known to keep receipts — and plenty of them.

But there is one receipt that he has seemingly hung onto the tightest, similar to how you might hang on to a receipt for a gift that you’re certain your loved one is going to hate.

That receipt for Licht, of course, would be one with the comment made by longtime Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan after Tom Brady retired following the 2022 season. You know the one. While being interviewed at the Pro Bowl, he was asked about Brady’s retirement and took a shot at the Bucs in the process.

“We’re glad he’s out of the division,” Jordan said. “Tampa Bay will probably go back to… where Tampa Bay has been.”

Yes, before Brady, the Bucs had been in the cellar of the NFC South for far too long. But Jordan might’ve been a bit too quick to dance on Tampa Bay’s grave… considering Tampa Bay hadn’t even been buried in it yet.

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With Brady retired for good, in came Baker Mayfield, and he picked up right where the G.O.A.T. left off by leading the Bucs to another NFC South title — their third straight — as they finished 9-8 and edged out the 9-8 Saints, keeping them out of the playoffs for a third straight year. When that happened, Jason Licht pulled out that receipt and trolled Jordan.

In 2024, the Bucs finished off an NFC South four-peat and yet again, Licht pulled out that trusty receipt and did it again, trolling Jordan and the Saints after they missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

But when Tampa Bay took it to New Orleans on Sunday afternoon and came away with a 23-3 win, the team’s fourth straight at the Superdome, Licht came at Jordan with a bit more of a bite. This time, it was with that same clip of Jordan’s early-2023 comments, only it ended with a cut to the veteran defensive end’s stat line from Sunday’s game, which featured a single assisted tackle.

Ouch, Cam. Ouch.

Jason Licht’s Bucs Continue Recent Dominance Over Saints

In Tom Brady’s final year, the Bucs struggled their way to an 8-9 record and the NFC South title. That year, they swept the Saints, winning 20-10 at the Superdome and 17-16 back home at Raymond James Stadium. But that came after New Orleans swept Tampa Bay in both 2020 and 2021, Brady’s first two seasons as a Buc.

The one that mattered most, though, went to Brady and the Bucs as they beat the Saints in the NFC Divisional Round on their run to Super Bowl LV. Of course, that might be where some of the deep-seated envy and hate that Jordan holds toward the Bucs comes from, as that playoff loss ended Drew Brees’ career and denied Jordan of what was likely his final chance at a Super Bowl ring.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

Whatever the case may be, Jordan said what he said following Brady’s retirement, perhaps in hopes that he could speak it into existence. He certainly wanted it to be true.

Only it hasn’t played out that way. Since Jordan said Tampa Bay would go back to being where Tampa Bay has been, the Bucs are 4-1 against the Saints and will be looking to make it 5-1 when the two teams meet at Raymond James Stadium in December.

More than the head-to-head, though, the Bucs have remained atop the NFC South. After the Saints won the division in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 to reach a total of seven titles since the division’s inception in 2002, the Bucs have won it in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 to reach seven titles themselves. Right now, they’re 6-2 and headed toward a division-best eighth NFC South crown.

Meanwhile, the Saints are in the early days of a rebuild (has it even started yet?) and haven’t made the playoffs since that Divisional Round loss in January 2021. If anything, the Saints have gone back to where the Saints were before Drew Brees.

The fact of the matter is that it’s good to be a Buc right now. And Jason Licht is clearly happy to remind Cameron Jordan of that fact.