GENERAL MANAGER JASON LICHT

(On how this offseason has been)

"It's been a little bit of a wild ride. You know, all offseasons are challenging in one way or another, but we feel good about where we've ended up and we're excited about this season."

(On how the late change at head coach changed the team's draft philosophy, if at all)

"The philosophy hasn't changed. It's just been meeting more with Todd [Bowles] now as the head coach, more one-on-one and more in some group settings, too. Bruce [Arians] has still been involved; he's been in our meetings. I meet with Bruce periodically and he's going to be involved here as we put the final touches on our draft, too. Our philosophy hasn't changed – we still want to bring in really good players."

(On working with Todd Bowles)

"Well, I've always had a really good relationship with Todd going back to our Arizona season together. He's just got a lot of insight. Never really talked about offensive players in terms of adding them to our team, it's always been talking about defensive players with him. It's been great to get his insight as a defensive expert on offensive players."

(On how much he would like or need to have resolution on unanswered free agency questions before the draft)

"It's always fluid, adding players to our roster. It doesn't have to be during free agency. Right now we're focused on the draft. There's a lot of time between after the draft and when the season starts, so it's always fluid. We leave the door open on a lot of cases, whether they're ex-Bucs or have been with us or players that are on the street. We'll just always keep doors open and we'll always keep constant communication about that."

(On if the Buccaneers will have to operate in the draft under the assumption that players like Rob Gronkowski and Ndamukong Suh may not be back in 2022)

"Well, you have to keep that in mind but you also never really want to push a need, or a perceived need, too high up. That's where you start making mistakes."

(On calling other teams about the possibility of trading up or down in the draft)

"That process usually doesn't start until the week of [the draft], usually even a couple days before. You put some feelers out here and there if you run into your colleagues at the Owners' Meetings, or what have you, that you'd be interested. But right now, sitting at 27, you don't know what players are going to come down yet. You don't know if you're going to be in a position that you're going to want to move up or really move back yet. So you start having those conversations next week, usually playing the game of the what-ifs."

(On his overall thoughts on this draft class)

"As you start diving in and doing more and more work, as we have the last couple months, you start to get more and more excited about it. That happens every year with the draft. Initially you think, well maybe it's not going to be as strong, but it does look like a draft [where] there's going to be some good players in the mid rounds, for sure. There may not be 30 guys that you think are legit first-round picks but there's going to be a lot of good players in the middle rounds."

(On pushing for a player at a position of need)

"You have to trust your board. You can't push players – like I said before – of a perceived need too high just because you need that position. Otherwise, they're going to trump other really good players at different positions. We could take a player literally at just about any position on our team and I think if they're a great player we're going to be happy we did it. So it's a delicate balance of wanting to win now and also looking into our future. As a general manager, my staff, we have to have our eye on the future a little bit, too. We obviously want a player that's going to come in and impact us and have a good year and help us win a Super Bowl this year, but you just never know until you get the player in the building. You can do all the work you want, you just never really know how it's going to work out."

(On how the Buccaneers approach to the draft might have changed when QB Tom Brady decided to return for the 2022 season)

"I'm not sure if it changed as drastically as what you're insinuating. It changed maybe a little bit of how we went about free agency. We had a lot of players that we wanted to bring back, which we were successful in doing. With the draft, I'll be sitting here next year talking about it if we still try to take and force a need – We'll be wishing that we drafted a different player if we didn't respect our board. Now we do have our board prepared for need and for best player. I say it every year – you want it where they collide and you got the best player at a perceived need."

(On if he goes over draft preparation with Brady)

"No, he stays away. He trusts us. That's just not in his nature, anyway."

(On the Buccaneers' interior defensive line position)

"We obviously think very highly of Vita [Vea], Will [Gholston]. We think Nacho (Rakeem Nunez-Roches) is a very good player. And we've got some young guys that we've had in here that we feel pretty good about. [They] have a chance to ascend and get better. You always want to upgrade your trenches. It's a position that we'll continue to look for, but we have the draft, we have a period after the draft, there's still trades. The trade deadline's not for months and months away. So there's different avenues and different paths that we can take to upgrade there and upgrade our depth and get more players in there."

(On how surprised he was about Ali Marpet's retirement and if it affect the team's draft approach)

"First of all, [I'm] very happy for Ali. He had an unbelievable career. I've got the – we all have the – utmost respect for him and I'm glad that he's staying in the community here. He's always going to be welcome here. Initially, I don't want to stay shocked but initially a little surprised, but now knowing Ali and the conversations we've had [I] certainly understand and respect his decision. And it did [affect strategy] a little bit; that's why we went and traded for Shaq Mason. And we feel really good about Aaron Stinnie having that playoff experience that he had when we won the Super Bowl. And Nick Leverett, Robert Hainsey – we've got some good players that we thought have been doing some good things early on in there careers that there's going to be a lot of competition. But it did initially, and I think the first step was trading for Shaq."

(On if re-signing RB Leonard Fournette would prevent the Buccaneers from drafting a running back)

"Obviously, getting Leonard back was great. Anytime you can have a three-down back on your roster it poses challenges for a defense. We felt like Ke'Shawn [Vaughn] took some big steps last year and we gained a lot of confidence with him. And then with Gio [Bernard] – good change-of-pace back, good hands, some value in the return game as well. But no, it would not stop us from taking a back."

(On if there are any draft room memories from past years that stand out to him)

"The year that we took Vita [Vea] and we traded back, you could hear a pin drop in the draft room, crossing the fingers that Vita was going to last until 12. And once he did, the place kind of erupted a little bit. That's one that I'll never forget."

(On if changes in the college game have led to less development of defensive tackles)

"There's a lot different theories to that. One of them may be that these big, long athletic guys became offensive tackles. You're seeing a little bit of a stunt of growth in that position over the last couple years and I'm hoping that reverses here in the next few years."

(On this year's class of tight end prospects)

"I'd say it's pretty solid. There's some good players. There's never as many tight ends as there are receivers or running backs or offensive linemen, but I would say it's pretty solid."

(On if he will be looking to acquire more mid-round picks or future picks)

"It just depends on how the board is going to fall. It depends on how the flow goes during the day, whether it's Day One, Two or Three. It depends on what players are left on the board. It's always something…I always had a thought of trading for picks for next year. It just hasn't really worked out that way because there's been players that we've liked. I'll say it every year, you guys probably get sick of me saying it: All options are on the table right now."

(On if it's realistic to think a rookie could come in and win a starting job on the 2022 team)

"You just never know. I think there are players in the draft that certainly have the ability and the talent and the capability of it. We've got a lot of good players on our team, so it will be good competition at a lot of spots."

(On how the draft will be different now that he's working with Head Coach Todd Bowles, and if Bruce Arians would be in the room)

"Yeah, I'll have Bruce in there. You know we get most of our work, 98% of it, done before the draft starts. So we kind of know what's going to happen…well, we know what we will do in all scenarios. So it will be no different."

(On the prospect visits of defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and defensive end Logan Hall)

"They are good players. You hear about them a lot in the media and there's a reason why. They are good football players that are a premium position. We had good visits with them – we had a lot of good players in here for the visits. They were two of them."

(On rebuilding wide receiver depth through this year's draft)

"Yeah, of course. You've seen the premium this offseason that teams are putting on receivers. We brought in Russell Gage and we're excited. Russell can add to our team. We've had some pretty good success with receivers here – developing them, taking the right ones. That's a tribute to our staffs working together there and the coaching, obviously. It's always a position you'll look at."

(On if QB Tom Brady has been offered an ownership stake in Buccaneers)

"No, we haven't had those discussions. The only discussions we've had with Tom is when he came back. We're excited about this year and excited to get going."

(On the 'chatter' of Tom Brady potentially joining Miami Dolphins next season)

"I make of it as chatter, just like you said. We're focused on putting our team together here with the draft and we're all excited. We're all in lockstep here – Tom, Todd [Bowles], myself, Byron [Leftwich], the entire coaching staff on this season."

(On the Buccaneers depth at edge rusher)

"Well, we love Joe [Tryon-Shoyinka]. We love Shaq [Barrett], Anthony Nelson, Cam Gill. We've got some good players there."

(On when he expects Tom Brady in for offseason workouts)

"Constant communication, he and Todd [Bowles] have had on that. It's voluntary right now. He's going into his 23rd season – he obviously knows how to take care of himself. During this voluntary portion, I just know he and Todd have had several conversations about that. So, no worries whatsoever."

(On the potential impact this rookie class will have compared to the last two drafts)

"I wish I had a crystal ball to tell you. But, I think we can get some contributors and I think there's a shot that we can get some players that can push to start. I felt last year that we got two linebackers in K.J. [Britt] and Grant [Stuard] late in the draft that did great things for us on special teams. Just because they didn't play on defense doesn't mean they were wasted picks. We're excited about where [quarterback] Kyle [Trask] is at in the process right now, too. I think it could go either way, it depends on what position you're taking. Obviously, if we're taking a position where we have a veteran, very good, Pro Bowl caliber player, it's going to take a little time."

(On if he is approaching the draft as though TE Rob Gronkowski won't return)

"Well, no. You have to pay attention to that position. Like I said before, you don't want to push a player up just because, like right now at this very moment, it looks like a perceived need. So, you want to take him at the right spot."

(On evaluating quarterback prospects in the draft)

"Well, I think it depends. I don't think you see that every year. I think you go through a year or two, maybe longer, where you have a little bit lesser of a talent pool at that position. I think it can change from year to year. I think a lot of the styles of offense that they're playing in college differ from where an NFL team that's looking for quarterbacks are currently running their style or their scheme. I think there's a lot of factors at play there. But then, you never know. You could have multiple drafted in the first round – you see what teams are willing to give up to bring a quarterback in. It's a very premium position, the most important position on the team."

(On if the USFL will help in scouting potential prospects)

"I think it would be [helpful]. It would be great to have our eyes on. We always say that the most important thing is the tape. So, it gives us more tape to watch and another avenue to bring players in."

(On the biggest change in his scouting process since first becoming general manager)

"I would say that – and it's something that every first-time general manager goes through – that you get here through a lot of different avenues. But, I got here through the scouting side. I felt like maybe I could put too much on my own plate instead of trusting the staff around you, hearing what everybody has to say, and making it a more collaborative effort. I feel like once I had that staff in place and had people here that I truly trust, which is too many to name right now, that the process became a lot smoother."

(On if it helps or hurts to have only a few quarterbacks chosen before the team makes its first-round pick)

"You're hearing that, I guess, through the media. I assume that you haven't talked to the other 31 general managers. Like I said, we have to prepare for every scenario."

(On how much work he still has left in preparing for the unpredictability of the draft)

"Well, there's a lot of that. I'd say, to put a number on it, that we're pretty close. We still have some medical meetings to go through. We still have some extra meetings just tweak the big board here and there. I'd say we're probably at 90 [percent]."

(On if Head Coach Todd Bowles has a say on who to draft when deciding between multiple players)

"Yes. But to answer your question, we're talking through all that right now and we're doing a lot of that right now. Todd and I, just like Bruce [Arians] and I, have a really good relationship where we can say whatever we want to each other in the room about, 'You're crazy. It should be this guy.' Or whatever and we'll watch it again, we'll talk it out, and sort it out before we go into the room on Thursday."

(On if Bowles' word carries weight in draft room)

"Yeah, absolutely. A head coach always has weight in that room. I would never want to draft a player that a coach absolutely does not want. It puts the player in an unfair position, but it also puts the coach in an unfair position, too."

(On the process for deciding between players to select while in draft room)

"We already have it, we already have it. We already have it. There's no fights in the draft room, that's what I want to avoid."

(On the current state of the defensive backfield)

"Well, we're healthy. Right now, we're healthy. So, we want to keep it that way. We had a lot of these young guys play very well two years ago when we won the Super Bowl, and I don't think that talent went away. So, we're healthy now. We've added players like Logan Ryan [and] Keanu Neal that we're excited about bringing some veteran leadership back there. I think we're in good shape."

(On if the addition of S Keanu Neal would preclude the team from drafting a safety)

"No."

(On how QB Tom Brady returning for his 23rd is affecting his draft strategy)

"There are no guarantees on any of these players. There's no guarantee – it's 50 percent. So, there's no guarantee. You want to make sure that you're doing all the work that you can. I love information at this point. Managing risk – I think you and I talked about that in the past – and bringing in a player that you have as much confidence as possible in. There's no guarantee that a player is going to come in and win Defensive Rookie of the Year or Offensive Rookie of the Year."

(On what positions he would consider to be a 'perceived need')

"No, I didn't mean it like that. There could be plans at certain positions that haven't really come about yet. There could be some things that we're thinking about doing at some point. So, I just used the word perceived – everybody's got an opinion. There's a lot of opinions out there on every team."

(On what he has adopted from conducting a draft during COVID)

"Well, you said it – Zoom. We take advantage of that. So, we'll have our [top] 30 visits, our scouts and coaches are working out players, and pro days. But, we do a lot of Zooms and we've gotten a lot out of those Zooms."

(On what draft night is like when team's first pick is not until late in first round)

"Mostly sitting, waiting...and eating, unfortunately."

(On getting back to a 'normal' draft experience this year)

"It was great getting back here last year. I miss the kids, maybe next year I'll have them in the draft room."

-BUCCANEERS-