Not many players in the NFL today have as strong of a free agent drawing power as Tom Brady has had with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Since Brady signed with the Buccaneers, multiple players have taken a pay cut to join him in Tampa Bay. Numerous veteran talents have also had no problem in agreeing to take on a lesser role on the team in order to do what it takes to win a Super Bowl, from LeSean McCoy to even as recently as Julio Jones.
Brady’s ability to attract notable free agents has all made life a bit easier for Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht. As Licht touched on during a press conference at Buccaneers training camp, having Brady as someone who he could lean on for sheer advice on free agency matters has been an “advantage.”
“Oh, it's huge,” Licht said. “I think any GM with an established veteran quarterback has an advantage, but when you have Tom Brady as the greatest, it's even more of an advantage and I'm never going to apologize for using him to help me bring in players for this team.
“If I'm thinking about a player or we are as a staff, I'll give him a call and see if he can help us out and he's always willing to do it.”
A star player on a team can often butt heads with a general manager over which route to take to bolster the roster. In the case of Brady and Licht, they are typically on the “same page.”
“We're usually on the same page with that,” Licht said. “We didn't have to kick too many weeds to find out about Julio Jones. We've known about him a while, and Kyle Rudolph was the best tight end that was available. But, we're usually on the same page. We have a lot of communication – so does Todd [Bowles] and Tom [Brady] and myself. We talk a lot about players.”
Licht was not as busy in retooling the offense as he was in years past, although he did bring in offensive talents such as Russell Gage to help add another dimension to this side of the ball.
The Buccaneers will kick off their preseason schedule with a home matchup against the Miami Dolphins next month.
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