NFL teams
Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Buccaneers give GM Jason Licht 1-year extension

NFL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have given general manager Jason Licht a one-year contract extension, which will keep him with the team through 2019, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The news was first reported by the website JoeBucsFan.com.

Under Licht, the Bucs have gone 22-42 and now have to contend with a three-game suspension of starting quarterback Jameis Winston.

But at the NFL owners meetings in March, co-chairman Joel Glazer cited Licht's draft classes as reason for optimism.

"I think always the best sign is when you draft a guy and re-sign him, when you're re-signing your own players -- that's a good sign that you're drafting well," Glazer said. "Mike Evans, Cameron Brate, a few of the other guys coming up that we're gonna want to keep -- that shows you that [there's] a good core together. That's what you want to see."

The club's best season under Licht came two years ago, when they finished 9-7 with first-year head coach Dirk Koetter. It was the first winning season the Bucs have had since 2010.

It was a busy offseason for Licht, re-signing Evans to a five-year deal worth $82.5 million and Brate to a six-year, $41 million deal, while also bringing back cornerback Brent Grimes and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick on one-year deals.

He also traded for defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and signed defensive tackle Beau Allen, defensive end Vinny Curry, defensive tackle Mitch Unrein, center Ryan Jensen and kicker Chandler Catanzaro.

Under Licht, the Bucs have found starters in drafting Evans, Winston, Donovan Smith, Ali Marpet, Kwon Alexander, Kendell Beckwith and Vernon Hargreaves III.

Licht has, however, also had some notable misses, with free agents Michael Johnson, Anthony Collins and Bruce Carter all gone after one season despite multiyear deals.

As a GM, Licht has shown a willingness to give second chances, but a zero-tolerance policy for repeated patterns of poor behavior. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, a second-round draft pick in Licht's first draft in 2014, was dismissed after a DUI arrest in 2016.

Licht's Bucs have also struggled in the kicking game. He infamously traded up to use a second-round draft pick on Roberto Aguayo, who was cut after going 22-of-31 his rookie season. Nick Folk was also ousted after four games when he went 6-of-11 last year.

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