INDIANAPOLIS — Jason Licht wishes the NFL scouting combine had not been canceled a year ago due to COVID-19. With all the league coaches and executives annually descending on this midwestern town to evaluate draft prospects, it’s the week for champions to take a bow.
“I wish we had a combine last year,” the Bucs general manager said Tuesday. “I would’ve walked around like Ric Flair.”
Instead, the Bucs are wrestling with how to replace Tom Brady following the quarterback’s retirement after winning 29 games and a Super Bowl in two remarkable seasons in Tampa Bay.
It was no surprise when Licht and coach Bruce Arians held a series of news conferences Tuesday that the biggest topic was Brady.
Specifically, do the Bucs believe there is a chance he could change his mind and play in 2022?
Licht stirred up some hope when he said earlier in the day the Bucs would “leave the light on” for Brady should he change his mind about retirement.
“I have no information,” Licht said. “Because we’re friends, I’ve talked to Tom several times, but not about this. So I don’t have any information that he’s going to come back or he isn’t going to come back. I think what I was saying was on a player like Tom Brady, you never shut the door. I said leave the light on.
“So, until we make a decision on what we’re going to do or it presents itself — sometimes, the decision isn’t made by you, sometimes it’s made by other factions. Never say never, but I don’t have any information that says, ‘yeah, he’s coming back.’”
Arians, however, believes Brady has played his last snap in the NFL.
“I was one of the ones that was just the opposite,” Arians said. “Every time I met with (Brady), he felt fantastic. Every time I kept asking him, ‘How you feel? How you feel?’ He said, ‘It’s the best I’ve felt in 10 years,’ in Week 16. The way he was playing, I had myself convinced he was coming back. Then when we talked, I understood everything about it.
“He slammed (the door) shut when I talked to him. I think like a lot of these guys, he likes to have his name out there.”
Furthermore, Arians said, if Brady wants to return to play for another team, the Bucs won’t grant his wish. Tampa Bay plans to put Brady on the reserve/retirement list after June 1 to reduce the hit on the team’s salary cap but retain his rights.
“Five No. 1s. Maybe,” Arians said when asked if he would trade Brady.
Why not grant Brady’s wish after all he accomplished during his two seasons in Tampa Bay?
“Nope,” Arians said. “Bad business.”
The business of finding a proven starting quarterback isn’t an easy one for the Bucs.
Unlike two years ago, when players such as Brady, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees were free agents, quarterbacks such as the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson can only be acquired via trade. The Bucs have a wish list of about eight quarterbacks, Arians said. But he’s not optimistic the best ones will be available.
“I mean, trades are just out of the question, I think,” Arians said. “You’ve got to have a partner. These guys aren’t just willingly calling, “Hey you want my guy?’ Who’s behind door No. 2 for them? I don’t see very many of these guys getting traded. There may be one. At max, two of the guys we think can take us to the Super Bowl.
“I like about eight of them, but they’re all playing for somebody else.”
One of the quarterbacks that could be available through trade is the Texans’ Deshaun Watson. But the 26-year-old former Clemson star faces civil suits from 22 women who allege sexual assault. He also has 10 criminal complaints against him that haven’t been settled.
Arians said Tuesday that Bucs ownership would have to sign off on any pursuit of Watson.
“I’ve known the kid for a long time,” Arians said. “Shocked that he’s in this situation. But that would be a strict organizational sign-off.”
Among the free-agent quarterbacks available is Jameis Winston, who is recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in a win over the Bucs last season. Winston passed for more than 5,000 yards with 33 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in his only season under Arians in 2019. The Bucs haven’t completely ruled out a comeback for their former No. 1 overall pick, but it seems very unlikely.
“Not totally,” Arians said when asked if he had ruled out a Winston return. “But I don’t think it’s the best thing for him.”
Two quarterbacks the Bucs believe will be in the equation are former Florida Gators star Kyle Trask and Blaine Gabbert, who also is a free agent.
The 32-year-old Gabbert hasn’t started a game since 2018 and played only in mop-up duty the past three seasons with the Bucs. A former first-round pick of the Jaguars, he had eight head coaches and nine offensive coordinators in his first eight seasons.
“I think everyone is judged on record,” Arians said. “When you’re playing on a (bad) team and you get drafted high, No. 1, you’re going to be on a (bad) team. Ben (Roethlisberger) was lucky. He went No. 11 and went to the Steelers on a good team. You go through those growing pains ... but you’ve got to have something about you to keep going.
“I know what he can do. I don’t judge records from that past. What are you going to do for me today? And I like what he can do today. He was crucial to Tom’s development, and he’s got the answers to the test. Now, does he still have the skill level to do it? I think so.”
That leaves Trask, whom Arians says will get every chance to win the job in training camp.
“It will be open competition, because Kyle is going to get a great, great shot,” Arians said. “I mean, he’s earned his shot, and I’m really impressed the way he improved the things he needed. When he was running the scout team, presence in the pocket, movement in the pocket, all those little things on and off the field that Tom taught him — leaning out, getting a little quicker.
“So yeah, he can throw it. It’s a matter of does he turn it over? Or if it’s Blaine, does he turn it over?”
Licht will walk the halls of the Indianapolis Convention Center and talk to other teams about acquiring a quarterback this week. But it won’t be a victory lap.
“It’s not as easy as what my neighbor thinks it is, just go trade for another All Pro quarterback,” Licht said. “Believe it or not, teams do not want to let go of their All Pro quarterback.”
