He's a "Belichick" kind of guy. Worked with Pioli, Dimitroff, and Andy Reid. Been striving to be a GM since his first days as a scout in the mid-1990s. Known to be aggressive and puts together very detailed scouting reports. He's bounced around between the Patriots, Eagles, and Cardinals and is respected as a bright, young up and coming executive.It's his first GM job. But he's spent a lot of time around some pretty successful people.Jay Glazer reporting that he'll have full control over personnel decisions and the draft. Lovie has control over the final 53-man roster and depth chart. In other words, Licht will bring in talent but Lovie will have final say over who the starters are.
feels good to be a Buc fan right now... time for a sandwich
PR tweeted that he's in Mobile with the Arizona group, but is expected to finalize things in Tampa later this week.
Good to see there's a Licht at the end of the tunnel. Eh? Eh? I'll go away now.
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cleaned house at the end of the regular season, they were left with several holes throughout their organization. The team quickly made some high-profile hires, such as Lovie Smith at head coach and Leslie Frazier at defensive coordinator, but they were still missing a general manager. On Tuesday, the Buccaneers ended their search, hiring Jason Licht - the Arizona Cardinals' vice president of player personnel - as their new general manager.Blog Photo - Buccaneers find new GM in Arizona's Jason LichtLicht beat out other candidates such as Lionel Vital (ATL), Marc Ross (NYG), and Lake Dawson (TEN). The 42-year-old Licht has a scouting background (as opposed to financial), which is reportedly something Lovie Smith covets in a general manager.Smith will have final say over roster decisions, but Licht is expected to control the draft and will still make plenty of decisions regarding personnel. His first task will likely be to decide whether or not Mike Glennon is the team's long-term answer at quarterback. The Buccaneers have the seventh overall pick in this year's draft, so they may have an opportunity to draft one of the top prospects at the position. If Licht and Smith deem Glennon - who posted a rock solid 83.9 passer rating as a rookie - as their quarterback of the future, they will go in a different direction with their first-round pick.Licht will have plenty of other nice pieces in place as he attempts to rebuild the Buccaneers into a Super Bowl contender. Doug Martin is a great young runner, Vincent Jackson is a perennial thousand-yard receiver, and there are several studs on defense, such as Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David, and Darrelle Revis. The offensive line could use some revamping, however, particularly with guard Carl Nicks' playing future in question.Licht is a fine hire for the Buccaneers, and Tampa Bay is a good landing spot for Licht. The team has some solid pieces to build around, and if Licht does his job well, the Buccaneers shouldn't be all that far from fielding a capable team. http://www.faniq.com/blog/Buccaneers-find-new-GM-in-Arizonas-Jason-Licht-Blog-74733
I really feel that he does not want to begin his career as an NFL GM, staking his reputation on the back of Mike Glennon. I just think this makes it even more likely we draft a new QB in Round 1.
Look what I just found on his Wikipedia page! This is crazy ! :"Jason Licht (/?la?t/; born February 13, 1971) is the American football General Manager for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He is known for riding waves. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Licht
TEMPE, Ariz. – It was a matter of time before a team lured Jason Licht away from the Arizona Cardinals. That day came Monday, when the now former Arizona Cardinals vice president of player personnel was hired by Tampa Bay as its next general manager. Hiring Licht wasn’t a gimme for the Buccaneers. He’s had pursuers before (Jacksonville last year and Miami this year) and had been turned down, finishing second to Phil Emery for Chicago’s GM job a year ago. It has become a cliché around the coaching and front office ranks, but Licht was waiting for the right job, and that meant he would have to have control over personnel decisions. But here’s where things get interesting. According to a story by ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Jan. 5, new Bucs coach Lovie Smith has a clause in his contract that gives him “final say” over the 53-man roster. So, something had to give. Or somebody. I think it was Smith and the Bucs. According to reports, the Bucs will indeed give Licht control of the draft and other personnel decisions. It’s the fit that Licht wanted and it obviously is in line with how Smith wants his team run. Licht’s reputation as a top-tier evaluator precedes him and he’s known to be very detailed in his process. Licht has won everywhere he’s been. Four of his teams – the 2001 and 2007 New England Patriots, 2004 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2008 Cardinals – have played in the Super Bowl. Arizona was among the most intriguing storylines of the season in 2013. Letting a man with a pedigree like Licht’s handle the roster can provide instant dividends, especially in a transition year like this. The NFL saw that this year. If Keim wasn't available, Licht was the next best thing. That’s what Smith and the Bucs need. That's what they got. While Licht wanted to be a general manager, he was also happy being in Arizona. He would’ve been content going through another year of interviews and returning to build on what the Cardinals achieved this past season while waiting for the right move. Apparently, he found it. He has a good, young quarterback, a strong secondary and a solid running game to build around in Tampa. A year ago tomorrow, Licht was promoted to vice president of player personnel and all he and general manager Steve Keim did was work with head coach Bruce Arians to construct a roster of castaway veterans, mid-level players who still had something to prove and rookies that took a 5-11 team to 10-6. His work in Arizona was nearly done – a championship would’ve been the icing on the cake, but Licht found what he was looking for. And it’s the right fit. http://espn.go.com/blog/arizona-cardinals/post/_/id/4240/jason-licht-found-right-fit-in-tampa-bay
seems completely legit
Looks like a decent hire. ...as far as lower level guys moving around, as Booker Reese pointed out, that is the norm. So the criticism that he moves around too much is not a fair one and is a bit of a reach.
bootz will find any criticism he can
I really feel that he does not want to begin his career as an NFL GM, staking his reputation on the back of Mike Glennon. I just think this makes it even more likely we draft a new QB in Round 1.
The same could be said of Smith. If Lovie has even the slightest doubt about Glennon then he needs to find his own QB to replace him. Lovie only has a 4 year contract, so he does not have the luxury of "trying" out Glennon for a season and if Glennon stinks it up replacing him with a rookie. Another thing to consider is, even if Glennon stinks it up next year the Bucs still will most likely not be picking in the top 3 and again will not be in a position to get a great QB prospect. Lovie will either roll the dice with Glennon for the next few years or acquire another QB this off-season to be the QB of the future.
An article from this past May… the more I read, the more I LOVE THIS GUY!Jason Licht took a promotion Wednesday, leaving his perch as the Patriots' director of pro personnel to take over as the Cardinals' director of player personnel. You're probably staring at each title and wondering how one is better than the other, and that would be a normal reaction. The difference, basically, is Licht's new title mirrors that of Nick Caserio, who was his immediate boss with the Patriots. Caserio detailed Licht's essential responsibilities with the Patriots in February while they were in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. "Really, you're evaluating players," Caserio said. "At different points in the year, it's going to take on — whether it's pro free agents, or whether you're evaluating players on opposing teams or going through evaluating — 'OK, we're going to look at all the rookies that are playing in the league, and looking at their performance relative to what we thought they might be coming out.' I'd say there's a number of things involved on a day-to-day basis. But I'd say a big part of it is just evaluating players and understanding the league." Basically, Licht evaluated everyone in the NFL to help devise game-day scouting reports, along with reports on each player to see how they'd fit as free agents. Licht also graded each players' development on a year-to-year basis. For example, the Patriots scouted quarterback Andrew Luck as he came out of Stanford — not because they thought Luck would slide to the Pats at the 27th pick, but so they could have a better understanding of how he developed on a yearly basis. Last week before the draft, Licht compiled a book of every NFL team's needs, which helped Bill Belichick and his staff assess the draft board as it unfolded. There's no doubt Belichick referenced that book while deciding whether or not he should trade up twice in the first round. In Arizona, Licht will oversee the pro personnel department and the college scouting department. "Jason is well-respected in the league," Caserio said. "He's got a lot of experience. I think a lot of people that have worked with him have a lot of positive things to say. We're glad we have him. There's no question about it." Obviously, the Patriots must replace Licht at this point, but they had seen this coming for a while now. Licht was one of the final candidates during the Bears' search for a new general manager in January, so the NFL's interest was clearly widespread.Read more at: http://nesn.com/2012/05/jason-licht-takes-new-job-with-cardinals-leaving-void-in-patriots-front-office/
Had to find someone that didn't mind lovie having the final say. Basically a pawn. Not a big deal either way.
wrong and wrong. http://thepewterplank.com/2014/01/21/much-power-will-new-general-manager-jason-licht-tampa-bay-buccaneers/
Honestly if we were going this route we might as well have kept Dominik. This seems like a blind stab in the dark by the Glazers hoping for good results. What I see is a guy who has not kept the same job or stayed in the same city for more than 3 years. To me that smells of a guy who has more of a short term mindset as oppose to long term.
Sounds like looking for a reason to complain.