FAB 4. Licht’s Best And Worst Re-Signings

Finding good players is one thing for any NFL general manager. Keeping them is another.

If there is an area where general manager Jason Licht has succeeded it’s making sure that the team’s best players don’t leave Tampa Bay for greener pastures and an opportunity to win elsewhere due to the Bucs’ losing ways over the last decade. Licht didn’t get any credit in this area from USA Today’s Steven Ruiz, who ranked Licht was ranked 31st out of 32 NFL general managers, but we’ll give him some credit here.

Former Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter, WR Mike Evans, TE Cam Brate and GM Jason Licht – Photo by Mary Holt/PR

Re-signing top talent is critical in developing a playoff-caliber team, and it was former general manager Rich McKay’s job to make sure that players like Hardy Nickerson, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Mike Alstott, John Lynch, Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly were re-signed in the 1990s and early 2000s to keep the Bucs’ core talent together. Those re-signings paid off when those players – minus Nickerson – helped Tampa Bay win its first and only Super Bowl in 2002 under the leadership of new head coach Jon Gruden.

While the Bucs may be far away from a Super Bowl appearance, they are closer to making the playoffs because Licht has done a good job of keeping the team’s most talented players in Tampa Bay.

Licht’s 5 Best Re-Signings

1. WR Mike Evans
Re-signing Evans to a five-year, $82.5 million deal last year that averages $16.5 million per year was a coup for Licht. Evans was Licht’s first draft choice as the Bucs general manager, and keeping the team’s best player on offense was an important piece for Tampa Bay’s future, as well as the future of quarterback Jameis Winston, who is entering his fifth-year option season. Evans, who was a Pro Bowler last year, is one of the league’s elite wide receivers and has an NFL record five 1,000-yard seasons to start his career.

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

2. LB Lavonte David
In Licht’s second season as general manager he locked up David with a five-year, $50.25 million contract extension that kept Tampa Bay’s playmaking linebacker in red and pewter. His deal was a fair one at the time he signed it, and even though he’ll make $9.75 million this year and is slated to earn $10.75 million in 2020, David is actually a bargain now.

3. DT Gerald McCoy
Keeping McCoy around in October 2014 was Licht’s first big contract extension. Although he thought about letting McCoy hit free agency in 2015 and signing Ndamukong Suh instead, McCoy took less money to stay in Tampa Bay and the Bucs took him up on the hometown discount as Suh got paid more money to leave Detroit to head to Miami. Although McCoy was cut this offseason due to salary cap concerns and because Licht and head coach Bruce Arians wanted Ndamukong Suh instead, McCoy made four more Pro Bowls in Tampa Bay after being re-signed by Licht.

4. LG Ali Marpet
Not only did Licht extend the contract of Evans in the 2018 offseason, he and director of football administration Mike Greenberg also extended the deal of Marpet, who is Tampa Bay’s best offensive lineman. Marpet signed a five-year, $54.125 million contract that makes him one of the Top 10 richest guards in the league. Licht didn’t overpay and Marpet’s deal may end up being a bargain if he makes a Pro Bowl in the near future.

Bucs RT Demar Dotson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

5. RT Demar Dotson
With apologies to Brate, who was re-signed last offseason, re-signing Dotson kept some much-needed continuity at the right tackle position. Dotson inked a three-year, $16.5 deal that was right at or perhaps a little below market value, which is good for the Bucs.

Analysis: This is an area in which Licht has really shined – with a big assist from Greenberg. The Bucs have re-signed every player they wanted to keep during Licht’s six-year tenure except Alexander and Humphries, but those two signed elsewhere for more money than Tampa Bay was willing to spend. Licht has done a very good job of keeping the Bucs’ talent in Tampa Bay.

Licht’s 5 Worst Re-Signings

1. RB Doug Martin
Licht had some serious concerns about re-signing Martin to a big contract extension in 2015 after he made the Pro Bowl with a 1,402-yard season in a contract year. Contract negotiations even went to the 11th hour before signing a five-year, $35.75 million deal because of Martin’s success in the first year in Dirk Koetter’s offense. Licht didn’t want Koetter, who was replacing Lovie Smith as head coach in 2015, to be without his star running back and gave in. Martin had back-to-back 400-yard seasons riddled with injuries and a suspension that made Licht’s decision to re-sign him backfire.

Former Bucs CB Brent Grimes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

2. CB Brent Grimes
Initially, signing Grimes to a two-year deal in 2016 seemed like a good deal because of his relationship with defensive coordinator Mike Smith from their days together in Atlanta. Grimes had seven interceptions and 35 pass breakups over the first two years, but Licht and Koetter made a mistake by begging the 35-year old to come back for one more season at $8 million when Grimes was clearly mentally checked out. Grimes had just six pass breakups and no interceptions in 13 games and looked embarrassingly disinterested.

3. P Bryan Anger
Anger was originally signed as a free agent on a one-year deal worth $1.75 million, but was re-signed to a five-year, $17 million deal in which he averaged $3.4 million per season. In hindsight, Anger should have been re-signed to a shorter, more modest contract as he was never as good as he was in his first season in Tampa Bay.

4. OL Evan Smith
After signing a four-year, $14.25 million contract in 2014 to become the Bucs’ starting center, Smith was re-signed to a two-year, $4 million extension in 2018 at age 32. Smith has battled multiple injuries and the team might have been better off adding a younger interior lineman that could become a full-time starter, which are duties that Smith can’t handle any more.

Former Bucs safety Chris Conte – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

5. SS Chris Conte
After signing a one-year deal in 2016, Conte inked a two-year extension worth $5 million. The money wasn’t the big deal. It was the fact that Conte was the team’s starter for the 2017-18 seasons before landing on injured reserve after Week 3 of the ’18 campaign. The fact that the Bucs didn’t have a better option at safety was the big deal.

Analysis: Licht hasn’t made many mistakes when it comes to re-signing players, and even with Martin, Grimes and Anger, those three had good seasons the year prior to their extensions. Smith and Conte weren’t awful re-signings, but they would have been better signings for depth rather than as candidates to start in Tampa Bay.