Ever wanted to know what it’s like for a general manager and his staff to navigate through the draft? How many trades get discussed before one is actually agreed upon? That’s just one element of the whole process, and the fact that the Bucs were doing this all from home like the rest of the league presented the most unique situation that the NFL has seen before.

NBC Sports’ Peter King was able to go behind the scenes with Jason Licht via video call for the first round of the draft while he and his front office all worked from their homes in communication to make a decision on a pick. The Bucs were the first team to make a trade in the 2020 NFL Draft when they moved up from 14 to 13 with the 49ers in order to select Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs. In a sense they made history as they competed the first trade to be done in a virtual draft. The Bucs’ traded their 14th and 117th (fourth round) pick for the 13th pick and a seventh rounder.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Getty Images

But the 49ers weren’t the first team that the Bucs tried to negotiate a deal with. Licht was on the phone with teams as early as the ninth pick with Jacksonville, trying to trade up for one of the top four offensive tackles. According to King, Licht had an offer of the Bucs first (No. 14), third (No. 76) and fourth (No. 117) picks on the table to Jacksonville for No. 9 overall. The Jaguars declined, opting to stay put and draft Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson.

The Bucs also spoke with the Browns and Jets, but neither were interested in moving back with tackles they liked still on the board. Licht even received an inquiry to move much further back from Minnesota, which he quickly rejected.

With the Raiders on the clock at No. 12, King reports that Licht offered Las Vegas GM Mike Mayock the Bucs first, third, fifth and sixth round picks while getting the Raiders first and third round picks back. Mayock opted to stay put even if Tampa upped their offer, so strong was his desire to select Alabama WR Henry Ruggs.

There was a lot of back and forth as well between Licht’s staff about what pick to offer San Francisco, ranging from a fourth to a sixth, to move just one spot in order to draft Wirfs. The Bucs ultimately swapped spots in the first round with the 49ers and surrendered their fourth round pick, No. 117.

You can read about the entire ordeal from night one of the NFL draft, plus get more thoughts and experiences that Licht had from King’s “Football Morning In America” column here.