Brady, Gronk ‘proven winners’
Ex-Pat Licht built Bucs with ‘Belichick model’
Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were more than the faces of the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl run last season.
They were the final pieces to a roster puzzle.
Brady filled a critical void at quarterback, and together he and Gronkowski raised a talented team to its full potential. Naturally, their returns to New England this Sunday have been a hot topic of conversation across the region. But another former Patriot, one equally responsible for Tampa’s title, is also coming home: general manager Jason Licht.
Licht originally joined the organization as a scout in 1999 and rose quickly to assistant director of player personnel before leaving the first time in 2002. His efforts helped lay the foundation for three Super Bowl teams, with the front office drafting players such Brady, Richard Seymour, Matt Light, Kevin Faulk and Deion Branch. Licht rejoined the Patriots in 2009 and spent three years as their director of pro personnel.
According to the Buccaneers’ website, Licht was responsible for “monitoring every NFL roster with an emphasis on scouting talent of upcoming pro free agents, while also maintaining depth on New England’s roster” during that time. The Pats rebooted their dynasty over the 2010 offseason, which bridged a terrible 10-6 season with a 14-win campaign and ensuing Super Bowl run. Their 2010 draft class is one of the best of the Belichick era, headlined by Gronkowski and safety Devin McCourty.
Nailing high draft picks has been at the heart of Licht’s success in Tampa Bay, where he selected Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans with the first pick of his tenure.
“He’s doing what every successful GM does. He’s gotten players through the draft that he believes can be winners, and he’s been right in the first round a significant amount of time, which is hard to do,” Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian told the Herald. “Secondly, he’s added people who are proven winners.”
Namely, Brady and Gronkowski.
What attracted Brady to Tampa Bay’s roster, aside from Evans and other weapons, was the depth and talent on both sides of the ball. Protecting Brady’s blind side now are 2015 draft picks, left tackle Donovan Smith and left guard Ali Marpet. Licht added starting right tackle Tristan Wirfs in the 2020 draft, another Day 1 stud.
Defensively, Licht built the Bucs as Belichick once did.
Former Ravens and Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah, now the NFL Network’s lead draft analyst, says the Buccaneers have largely followed Belichick’s model, most notably selecting star nose tackle Vita Vea in 2018. Despite playing an often overlooked position, Vea is a burgeoning star in the NFC. Shortly after Licht originally left New England in 2002, the Patriots drafted defensive tackles in the first round of back-toback drafts in 2003 and 2004.
They’ve since taken defensive tackles with one of their top two picks in five drafts.
“I see the Bill Belichick model of kind of building up the middle, which they’ve done forever,” Jeremiah said. “I think of the Vince Wilforks and the Ty Warrens, the difference it can make investing in big guys up front. The Patriots over the years have also brought in kind of veteran pass rushers on the edge, like Tampa has with Jason Pierre-Paul.
“And then you look at the investment at middle linebacker, where (Jerod) Mayo (was) a high pick and (Dont’a) Hightower. The Bucs just got Devin White in the first round in 2019.”
The similarities don’t stop there. In 2020, the Pats took Kyle Dugger early in the second round, moments before Licht selected another safety in Antoine Winfield Jr., who’s started all 19 games of his young career. Both profile as physical, heady players for years to come.
“A safety’s instincts are paramount for Belichick, as is football intelligence,” Jeremiah said. “He’s always wanted and been able to play with smart safeties, and Winfield Jr. is incredibly bright and instinctive.”
Overall, Licht drafted 11 of Tampa Bay’s 22 starters on offensive and defense, many of whom he retained this offseason. He filled the gaps with star players, unafraid to take big swings via trade and free agency, as Polian noted the Patriots did with Randy Moss, Darrelle Revis, Stephon Gilmore and even Antonio Brown, now a Buccaneer.
Before Brown, Tampa signed big names in defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and running back Leonard Fournette, a ready-made roster built around Brady that Licht knew he could thrive with.
“To me, it was clear that there was a lot of meaningful pieces on defense, and like the great quarterbacks I’ve been around, they always felt like they could elevate the people’s play on that side of the ball,” said ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum, formerly the vice president of football operations for the Jets and Dolphins. “So if Tampa had a good defense, and they did, you knew there would be OK.”
More than OK, the Bucs were Patriot-level OK, which meant one Super Bowl run and possibly another, with their next stop coming Sunday in Foxboro.