There’s been plenty of jubilation in the Tampa Bay area at the start of free agency, and rightfully so. General manager Jason Licht and the Bucs front office deserves a lot of credit for the moves that they’ve been able to pull off.

It’s unprecedented for most teams to bring back their starting quarterback, best wide receiver, best inside linebacker, keep an All-Pro safety with plans to sign him to an extension this summer, and also hold onto a kicker that hit over 93% of his field goals last season. But that’s exactly what Licht and the Bucs have done.

Pulling that off is one thing, but the Bucs signing those players to very reasonable contracts is another.

The contracts of quarterback Baker Mayfield (three years, $100 million), wide receiver Mike Evans (two years, $41 million) and linebacker Lavonte David (one year, $9 million) could be considered bargains for what their market could’ve been had they hit free agency. Tampa Bay’s offseason re-signings this year rival the re-signings the team did in 2021 following their Super Bowl LV championship in 2020.

Bucs WR Mike Evans and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Scott Reynolds/PR

Oh, and in terms of “new” free agents, the Bucs solved their need at strong safety by signing Jordan Whitehead to a two-year, $9 million deal. Whitehead played the last two seasons with the Jets but spent the first four years of his career with the Bucs, helping them win Super Bowl LV.

Another reason for Bucs fans to be happy this offseason.

Though Tampa Bay hasn’t brought in many new faces during free agency, that was never the team’s objective. Keeping players in-house was the goal, and that can be very difficult to do.

That’s why Licht said this at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“If we can re-sign Mike and Baker and Lavonte, Chase [McLaughlin], Antoine [Winfield Jr.] and Tristan [Wirfs], I mean, we should be throwing another boat parade,” Licht said. “So, that’s a pretty good class there.”

Licht is very close to marshaling another boat parade in Tampa Bay. All he and assistant general manager Mike Greenberg need to do is extend Winfield and Wirfs.

Jason Licht Calls Out The National Media Regarding Bucs Offseason

On Wednesday at a press conference announcing the re-signing of Baker Mayfield, general manager Jason Licht made a bold statement.

“This is one of the greatest free agency hauls ever, but it’s our own guys,” Licht said. “We’ve got some Hall of Famers in here – Lavonte and Mike. It’s been incredible. I think it’s time that the national media realizes that we have some great players. They already know, but now they really know. It’s a great time for us.”

Licht looks at it as an advantage that he has to re-sign his own guys versus finding a new crop of players. There are already established relationships with Tampa Bay’s own stars that the team can build on instead of trying to impress a free agent to find a new landing spot.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“It’s a definite advantage,” Licht said. “I was trying to explain this to my own family, the kids, the other day – we are a different team and in this free agency we signed Mike Evans, Baker, Antoine [Winfield Jr.] and it goes on and on and on. That’s why I came up with the boat parade – we would be celebrating and having a parade over this.”

There are no lies detected with what Licht said.

There’s no NFL rule stating that a team has to sign new players in order to have the best grade in free agency. In fact, many times the teams that throw the most money at newcomers see little to no improvement at all.

Is it a surprise that the Bucs have the longest playoff run in the NFC of four years? No, because they have good players, and those players have decided to stay in Tampa Bay to help this team get to another Super Bowl.

It’s time that the national media recognizes that fact – and recognizes Licht for keeping them with the Buccaneers.