Buccaneers GM Jason Licht Says Tom Brady Pitched Himself to Team

Tom Brady is one of the new members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it looked as if the Bucs were the ones going after the six-time Super Bowl champion. However, based on what the team general manager had to say to ESPN, Brady may have been more interested in the Bucs than the Bucs were with Brady. Jason Licht was on the ESPN show Get Up on Monday, and he told Mike Greenberg that in their first phone call with Brady on the first day of free agency (March 18), Brady was telling them why they should sign him.

“We had a great conversation — Bruce and I — we talked to him for over an hour and a half. And he made it clear in the conversation that he was very, very interested,” Licht said. “It was almost like a recruitment on his part, telling us why it would make sense for him to come to Tampa Bay. The next call we made, we signed him, but it was at that phone call that we realized, that we felt like we had him.”

When it comes down to it, Brady did not need to pitch himself to the Bucs because they were going all-in with him. Licht and Bucs head coach Bruce Arians identified Brady as their top quarterback to sign since they weren’t going to bring back Jameis Winston. Brady might be 42 years old (will turn 43 once the season begins), but the Bucs believe he can still get the job done.

“The tape showed to us that he had plenty of arm. In fact, we thought that he had an ideal arm for Bruce in his system,” Licht said, referring to Arians’ love for throwing the ball downfield. “He can still throw it deep. We felt like the mobility was still the same as he’s always had, which, he’s never been able to outrun anybody. But he certainly is good in the pocket in terms of eluding pressure and with his poise and his instincts. We did not see a decline in his arm talent whatsoever. And, in fact, we feel like he could still play for over two years for us, and hopefully that’s the case.”

Brady brings a ton of experience and winning to Tampa. He led the New England Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances, and he’s won the NFL MVP award three times.