INDIANAPOLIS (WFLA) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht is approaching the NFL Scouting Combine the same way he does every year.
It is not so much the jumping, the lifting, the sprinting or the on field workouts.
It is the blood work. The indicators that his team’s future investment truly is a sound one.
“The most important thing here at the Combine is the medical. That’s why the Combine was created,” Licht said. “The second most important part is the interviews that we have with the players. We’ll talk to every player that’s here in some way, shape or form.”
But hanging over the Combine and the Bucs’ NFL Draft preparations is the beginning of the league year, as in, free agency.
The Bucs are not in the safest salary cap position, at least compared to recent off-seasons. Licht has gone in on big names before.
This year, he will have to roll up his sleeves and work on retaining some of the team’s key contributors.
During his media session at the Combine, Licht did not agree with a sentiment that cutting veteran defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is a smart way to cut costs. Licht would not budge on the contract of wide receiver DeSean Jackson either.
“He is still under contract,” Licht said in a interview with News Channel 8.
However, offensive tackle Donovan Smith will have to be a priority before the rest of the league can get its hands on him. Same for wide receiver Adam Humphries and linebacker Kwon Alexander, who will have a critical summer of rehabilitation following his season ending ACL surgery last October.
How will the salary cap effect the Bucs in the draft? Any position loss will become a potential pick, to become a starting player. Various mock drafts have the Bucs slotted to select Alabama offensive tackle Jonah Williams. LSU linebacker Devin White is another option.
That is just the top of the draft. The freedom to focus on one position or overall depth, may be decided weeks before the Bucs first pick is announced.
