As the Bucs are gearing up for a postseason run, they will be doing so as one top front-office mind could be potentially poached for a general manager job with another team this offseason.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday afternoon that the Jets have requested an interview with assistant general manager Mike Greenberg. Greenberg grew up in New York as a fan of the team and it is where he got his start as a football administration intern in 2008 and 2009.

Mike Greenberg Has Been Invaluable To The Bucs’ Front Office

Bucs assistant GM Mike Greenberg and GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mike Greenberg has been positioning himself for a general manager job when the right opportunity came, and it could be with the Jets. Greenberg interviewed with the Panthers last offseason before they decided to go with Dan Morgan and pair him with Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales.

Tampa Bay has been fortunate to have Greenberg around since 2010 when he was hired by former general manager Mark Dominik as a personnel assistant. He has been an invaluable member of Tampa Bay’s front office throughout his time with the team.

Much more than the salary capologist that he is often depicted being, Greenberg is the trusted strategist of the Bucs’ brass, and actually runs the entire budget for the football side of the organization – not just the salary cap. Greenberg sets the budget and oversees the purchases for the team’s travel, equipment, video, scouting, and groundskeeping. Greenberg has been a creative innovator in terms of contract structure and has been a contract trendsetter around the league. Other teams have copied his structuring style, which has evolved throughout the years.

More importantly than his financial wizardry, Greenberg is also Licht’s right-hand man. Licht has a unique relationship with him after the two have worked together for a decade, and both of them collaborate on plenty of important personnel decisions.

Greenberg’s role with the front office is not limited to free agency, either. He is also the trade strategist for the Bucs on draft weekend. Greenberg has assisted Licht with compensation strategy during the times the general manager has moved up and down in certain rounds over the years.

Jets’ GM Gig Could Entice Mike Greenberg To Leave The Bucs

Bucs assistant general manager Mike Greenberg – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

With all of that outlined, it begs the question, would Mike Greenberg leave to go back and fix his dysfunctional hometown team?

While the Jets finished the year with a win over the Dolphins, they finished just 5-12 and fired both head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas at different points midseason. With the Aaron Rodgers experiment failing to produce a playoff berth, there could be massive changes in New York. The organization could view Greenberg as the guy to help fix the balance sheet and retool the roster similar to the work he did under Jason Licht after Tom Brady.

Even if Rodgers returned for another year, there will be big decisions to make across the roster, especially as they will soon have to extend wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, as well as decide how to go about constructing an annual playoff contender the fans have long-waited for.

The opportunity to be the man to lead the charge and get them there could be one that he may not be able to pass up. An important variable in this equation is that former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum is leading the search — and he is the one who was responsible for hiring “Greenie” as an intern back in the day.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds has prepared Bucs fans for this, as earlier in the season Reynolds did a Pewter Pulse video going over the possibility of the team losing Greenberg.

This will be something to monitor as the Bucs look to advance further into the postseason. PewterReport.com will have the latest updates on this story when they come.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds contributed to this story.