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“If I Go Back in Time…”: Bucs GM Jason Licht Rewinds on His $100 Million Bet on Tom Brady

Published 03/17/2023, 1:17 PM EDT

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht made peace with a rough road ahead when he bet it all on Tom Brady in 2020. And it paid off handsomely, with the Vince Lombardi trophy coming to South Florida after almost two decades. But he has to bear the consequences now that the QB has hung his helmet after last season. So, how has the deal turned out for Licht?

TB12 retired at the end of this season and now Licht needs to pay off the huge loan he had taken out against the future years. And with the dire situation of the Tampa Bay cap room, they have no option but to make the most of the draft.

Jason Licht would do it all over again

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Tom Brady wasn’t the favorite to win the Super Bowl after winning six with New England Patriots. However, at 43, Brady did the unthinkable. And it came at a cost of about a hundred million dollars. And Jason thinks it was all worth it.

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If I go back in time, I would do it all again. We pushed. We borrowed about $100 million against this year’s cap and future cap to do what we did. Came close the second time. But you know, if anybody wants to criticize what they did, they can come to any of our three homes, and look at our ring,” Jason Licht said at a press conference recently, alongside Bucs CB Jamel Dean and linebacker Anthony Nelson.

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Tampa Bay couldn’t repeat their championship ways after Super Bowl LV. However, they claimed the NFC South titles in the following two years. This year’s run ended with a loss to Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round of the playoff round.

Tom Brady left a pretty big hole, on and off-field

With the 45-year-old QB announcing his retirement in February, his second in two years, the first overall pick from 2018, Baker Mayfield recently signed on to be Brady’s successor. The former Brown, Panther, and Ram signed a one-year $8.5 million deal to replace Tampa Tom in the pocket.

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Besides Brady, the Bucs also have other veterans leaving like running back Leonard Fournette, who wanted to be released and continues looking for his next destination in the NFL. Luckily, Lavonte David is returning on a one-year deal. And with just a million in cap space left this season because of the Brady bet, there is little to no room for the Bucs and Licht to work the free agency this year. HC Todd Bowles recently laid out his plans during the Scouting Combine.

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Tampa Bay has nine picks in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft and will look to use them to rebuild. And Licht wants to be back on the glory road very soon. “We’re gonna pursue another one,” he said.

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Written by:

Soumyapriyo Ganguly

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Soumyapriyo Ganguly is an NFL writer at Essentially Sports. He holds a degree in Economics and Statistics from the Indian School of Business and Finance. Rivu is a sports nerd with his favorites being Soccer, American Football, Basketball, UFC, and Formula 1.
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Edited by:

Hitesh Nigam