In a week that has been a lot about dissecting all the nuances of what was said in a press conference by former Bucs personnel, the words that will hit the most came former Bucs assistant general manager, John Spytek, who became the Raiders general manager last week.

Bucs GM Jason Licht, director of player personnel Rob McCartney, assistant GMs John Spytek and Mike Greenberg – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
It make sense that Spytek would have the most to say. He spent a lot more time in Tampa Bay than Liam Coen did and went through the ups and downs.
John Spytek has been in the Bucs’ player personnel department since 2016. At the beginning, there were many hardships with this team as they attempted to turn the franchise back into a winner, and they eventually did with a couple of big-time moves that he was involved in.
This included moves like trading for edge rusher Jason Pierre-Paul and signing Shaq Barrett, signing quarterback Tom Brady, bringing Rob Gronkowski to Tampa, signing Baker Mayfield and building out the team through the draft for several years with draft picks like Tristan Wirfs, Antoine Winfield Jr., and Bucky Irving.
John Spytek Praises His Time With The Bucs

Raiders GM John Spytek and HC Pete Carroll – Photo by: USA Today
Eventually, Spytek became the assistant general manager of the Bucs along with Mike Greenberg for the 2023 season. In that tenure, he saw two more Bucs’ division championships, making it four in a row and five straight playoff appearances. It’s all of these moments that had Spytek sounding grateful during his introductory press conference with the Raiders.
“It was an awesome opportunity to work for a great franchise,” Spytek said. “They are an awesome ownership group. They gave us all the resources to do our jobs well. Proud [of] what we accomplished there and just grateful to have had the opportunity to work for them.”
“Jason Licht, my boss the last nine years at Tampa, believing in me when I was a young scout. Giving me an amazing chance to help lead a franchise at a young age — at 35 years old. I worked every day to make him proud. We accomplished a lot together and I’m just so grateful for him.”
Here was the full video of his responses about the Bucs.
I think Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans will be a wee bit more receptive about John Spytek's introductory press conference in Vegas today.
Here are some notable snippets with Tampa Bay mentions. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/yVOdlHok5Z
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) January 27, 2025
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