Rich McKay realized his drafts were bad and the team was stuck aka mid. Tony Dungy, the drafts, were all mid. So they decided to start to do more risky things. Sign Brad Johnson, pick up Keyshawn Johnson, sign Simeon Rice. Then ownership traded for Gruden and then the team signed McCardell, Dilger, Dudely, Pittman, Oben, Whittle.
Licht may have been over aggressive during his early start with free agents but as we have seen his drafts were the real anchors bringing down the franchise. Right now Lichts drafts are mid and most teams in that position spend money to overcome that mediocre state.
This was the dilemma the Steelers faced the last few years which is why when Khan took over as GM he has been aggressive the last few off seasons by shaking up the roster with trades and free agent splashes. But they still prioritized re signing their own home grown talent so Licht can execute this mandate and desire that the Glazers have about paying for the Bucs homegrown talent and keeping them in place. And the stability this brings to the organizational structure that the Steelers have had for many years and the Bucs replicate this now.
Licht getting 12 years to figure things out kinda says it all