The hard part of roster cuts may be over for Bucs general manager Jason Licht, but the performances that made two undrafted rookies impossible to cut made his job a little easier – and a lot more rewarding.

One of the most difficult responsibilities Licht and the rest of the front office face, on both a personnel and personal level, is trimming the 90-man roster the team has carried since the 2026 NFL Draft to 53 players before the season starts. With that now complete, Licht shared what led to Jalon Daniels becoming the No. 2 quarterback and how cornerback Ayden Garnes stood out enough to stick.

Jason Licht Admits Jalon Daniels Started Emerging As Bucs QB2 Early In Preseason

Now that the dust has settled regarding the Bucs backup quarterback situation, Jason Licht opened up about the decision to make Jalon Daniels the top backup to Baker Mayfield. It is quite the development, considering that Daniels went undrafted out of Kansas. With the way he showed up and played throughout training camp and the preseason, the process became easier.

Bucs QB Jalon Daniels – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

“Well, that’s an incredible accomplishment for an undrafted rookie to get that position,” Licht said. “I can’t think in the last decade [of] another time it’s happened. But the number one thing is he earned it. It wasn’t just given to him. You don’t get that honor by just being lucky or having somebody pull strings for you. He earned it. Like I said, he earned the trust of his teammates, his coaches. You guys have seen him out here practice during camp, [he] did some really great things in the game.”

Then, in what seemed like a subtle shot at Jake Browning, Licht mentioned that the team chose to go with someone who does not lack in talent or preparation, although Daniels has never played an NFL snap.

“You can go back and forth with the experience argument, but we’d rather have a very talented, prepared, inexperienced quarterback than going with experience just for the sake of saying the guy is experienced,” Licht added. “So, like all rookie quarterbacks, whether you’re the number one overall pick or undrafted, there’s going to be a learning curve, there’s going to be ups and downs, but we feel good about where he’s at, his trajectory, and we’re excited.”

Bucs QBs Jalon Daniels and Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Looking ahead, it is clear that the organization values Daniels more than just for what he can bring in 2026. Winning the backup job entering this season, they trust him to handle clipboard duties behind Mayfield and that he can play and produce in a moment’s notice. Still just 23 years old, he has plenty of potential to continue improving and becoming a starting signal-caller down in the years to come, either in Tampa Bay or with another NFL team. For now, the coaching staff seems thrilled to have him and started to see him as QB2 early on.

“I think it was before our first preseason game, we loved what we were seeing out here, what we were getting from Zac [Robinson] and Chandler [Whitmer] and T.J. [Yates],” Licht said. “Then I think after the first preseason game with the Jets, I think the conversation started going towards, well, he’s got to prove that he can’t be the number two more so than he’s got to prove that he can be.”

Ayden Garnes Making The Bucs 53-Man Roster Became Obvious In Camp

With inside linebacker Caden Fordham getting waived on Tuesday after making the 53-man roster, cornerback Ayden Garnes was the only defensive undrafted free agent left standing. For Garnes, that is a product of consistently making plays in practice and the preseason.

Bucs CB Ayden Garnes – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

“Every day he was making a play on the ball – an interception – or multiple plays on the ball,” Licht said about what stood out about Garnes. “He’s got excellent instincts. He’s tough. What I liked about him, and I was talking with some of our players about this…He just had a very confident air to him, and he knows he’s good, and he kind of carried that with him. At that position, you have to have a lot of confidence, so he’s got that going for him too. He’s also a rookie, so he’s still got ways to go here, but we were very excited about him as well.”

His biggest highlight play during the preseason was his 47-yard pick-six in the first game against the Jets, but it says a lot that he was the Bucs’ best ballhawk over the summer. It was hard to keep count of all his pass breakups, although it is firmly in the double digits. He also had several interceptions, doing much of his damage against Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay’s talented wide receiver corps.

Bucs CB Ayden Garnes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“He doesn’t care who he’s going against,” Licht said. “He sees them all as the same. He doesn’t have any bias.”

In what was once a murky picture at the bottom of the cornerback depth chart, it is fortified knowing that Garnes is a capable cover corner. If pressed into action, head coach Todd Bowles will be more comfortable throwing him out there compared to other depth cornerbacks in recent years. Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish, and Benjamin Morrison are all currently ahead of him, but it would not be surprising to see No. 24 log some defensive snaps at some point.

The efforts from the Bucs scouting staff to identify players like Jalon Daniels and Ayden Garnes is not lost on Jason Licht.

It is a year-long process combing the college ranks and scouting countless prospects, but anytime an undrafted free agent makes the 53-man roster, it is a diamond in the rough kind of moment.

“It’s awesome. It’s a scout’s dream,” Licht said. “It’s what they do this for. I think I said this on the radio the other day: once the draft is over, that’s the part that gets all the media [attention], all that, rounds one through seven…But then rounds eight, nine and 10, that’s when I step aside and let them do their work. They love it, they crave it, and they’ve been doing a really, really, really good job for us. It’s always a bonus when you can get somebody like that. Then, you root for him to play well and give them a second deal, which we’ve done a lot of.”