Jason Licht - General Manager, buccaneers Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-05 | Full transcript (primary source).
On September 5, 2026, Jason Licht addressed the media during a press conference for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The discussion centered on the team's decision to name undrafted rookie Janet Daniels as the backup quarterback, highlighting the challenges and expectations ahead for the upcoming NFL season.
Transcript
Unknown: All right, fire away.
Reporter: Jason, talk about the decision to make Janet Daniels your number two quarterback, undrafted rookie, hasn't played a snap in the NFL. Big year for you guys, obviously. What was it that gave you the confidence that he could step in there and he had to do a week one?
Licht: Well, that's an incredible accomplishment for an undrafted rookie to get that position. I can't think in the last decade, another time it's happened. But the number one thing is he earned it. He wasn't just given to him. You don't get that honor by just being lucky or having somebody pull strings for you. He earned it, like I said. He earned the trust of his teammates, his coaches. You guys have seen him out here practice during camp, did some really great things in the game. And you can go back and forth with the experience argument. But we'd rather have a very talented, prepared, inexperienced quarterback than going with experience just for the sake of saying it, the guys experienced. So he's like all rookie quarterbacks, whether you're the number one overall pick or undrafted, there's going to be a learning curve. There's going to be ups and downs. But we feel good about where he's at, his trajectory. And we're excited.
Reporter: It probably hasn't some stages where you realize like, wow, he has to be on the 53 now. And then you go from that to wow, could he be the two? Was there like a clinching moment or a reinforcing moment for you to where he gave you the confidence to do what most teams don't do with their backup work?
Licht: Todd and I have a lot of conversations after during practice before practice, after practice, at night, in his case early in the morning. And I think it was we before our first preseason game, we loved what we were seeing out here. The what we were getting from Zach and Chandler and TJ. And then I think after the first preseason game with the Jets, I think that that started to the conversation started going towards, well, he's got to prove that he can't be the number two more so than he's got to prove that he can be.
Reporter: What about Aiden Garnes? He's a guy that every single day, it seemed like he was coming out here and making plays.
Licht: Well, didn't seem like he was. He was. It's true. Yeah, every day was making a play on the ball, interception or multiple plays on the ball. He's got excellent instincts. He's tough. What I liked about him and I was talking with some of our players about this that he didn't have a, I'm not saying cocky air to him. He just had a very confident air to him and he knows he's good and he kind of carried that with him. And at that position, you have to have a lot of confidence. So he's got that going for him too. He's also a rookie. So still got ways to go here, but we were very excited about him as well. But like every time that that room had an injury or somebody had a day off, he stepped in and it didn't really matter the competition that he was going up against. It could have been a Mecca, Ibuka, you know, it could have been Ted Hurst. Like those are all really talented players. Seems like he held his own.
Reporter: Yeah, that's, you've nailed it. He doesn't care who he's going against. He sees them all as the same. He doesn't have any bias. Talk about the running back the situation. I see that you decided to keep Sean Tucker do a little different, you know, with his deal, then also bring Josh onto the practice squad and then combined with Gainewell and Bucky Irving.
Licht: Love that group, that entire group and just the way that you can construct your roster and keep guys on the practice squad and elevate them. You can, you know, do that whole thing and there's the roster management, the puzzle. It's, it's, we feel very, very fortunate that we can keep all four because we like all four, but, you know, Sean's done some really good things for us in the past. He's an explosive runner. He's, he's got very good speed and I think that's a nice compliment with running backs that we have, including Josh.
Reporter: What was the toughest position group to decide on when building this roster?
Licht: Well, I don't want to know toughest. The one, you know, the first thing comes to mind is we have really good depth as good as I can remember or have had here in my tenure at outside linebacker and very, very, feel very good about that. So I had to make a couple of decisions on whether or not we were going to keep extra there, but that was, that was tough. That's a good, that's a good position to be in.
Reporter: Jack Byron had a couple of big moments in the preseason, you know, obviously, as you said, it's a loaded position group, but, and people have been talking about him obviously with the college situation, but he was locked in on trying to get a spot. How difficult was that decision to cut in?
Licht: Yeah, it's hard. None of these decisions are easy for us. It was tough, you know, he did a, he did some really good things, but so did some other guys that we decided to keep on the 53 would love to have him on the practice squad would've been great, but you know, you don't always get what you want. You can't always have your cake and eat it too. So wish him the best of luck. He did a great job for us and has a chance to be a pretty good player.
Reporter: Jason, Edge rusher has been that position. You've been trying to solve the last couple of years now and you just kind of mentioned you have depth at that position. Now, how much of a relief is that not just depth, but the talent you have at that position now?
Licht: Yeah, it feels good. No, we haven't played a game yet, but it feels very good from what we've seen so far and from all of them, I want to name all of them. I mean, you guys know what's on the roster. So, I mean, I'll just go down to Anthony Nelson, who also had a strong preseason and he's been Mr. Clutch for us over the year. So, feel very, very good about that, that position.
Reporter: Jason, one of the tricky parts with cutting to 53 is wanting to get the 16-17 types of the practice squad the way you want. And you guys kind of went against like the traditional norms in terms of positional honors, to carry seven D linemen, to have only three safeties. How well Hibern is going, but how well other than that did this go in terms of you being able to keep the depth you wanted to have both between the roster and the practice squad?
Licht: I think the plan that we had, you know, it went into effect and being able to keep like, you know, the safeties and the ones that we wanted in the practice squad and we think can line up and play on Sunday or next Sunday. So, because of the rules that we have, elevations and things like that, it's obviously this roster is not set in stone. It can be fluid. It could be fluid today, tomorrow, next week, leading up to the game. So, we're always going to be looking for ways that we can upgrade depth at all positions. So, but we were happy with the way it turned out.
Reporter: You have some pretty young corners on this team. To be able to get Sean Murphy punting back even on the practice squad, how reassuring is that for you?
Licht: Yeah, no, that was great. He really wanted to be here too. He had a lot of opportunities and I went down to talk to coach about it yesterday and, you know, he was obviously all in and, you know, he's done some really good things for us and, you know, could be a player to watch for us and, you know, he's going to add to the group and provide a lot of competition there. So, that's what you want.
Reporter: Is there one thing that stands out about now you got the 53-man roster, you wanted to get tougher, I know on defense, based on everything you brought in, bang. What's the one thing that you think this roster, this team is better now than since last year?
Licht: We already had a lot of competitive, mature, win-at-all-cost types of players. We wanted to bring in more and we think we accomplished that and just the vibe at practice, the vibe in the building, meetings, all those things, just because of the more that we added, it's really increased and I just, I really like this team. I've been in this business long enough to know that I can't come up here and give you predictions but I just know that I really like the way that Todd is leading this team and what we've added and it's, you know, it's pretty apparent.
Reporter: It's always great to have a team, to have a go-to receiver. The guy that's going to make the big play at the big moment, you have to replace the guy but maybe in the aggregate with your receivers, who is that guy among this group that, you know, that emerges now or is it just there's so many that, you know, you just let things take their course?
Licht: We have a lot of options at that but, I mean, I can't be remiss if I didn't mention Chris Godwin for all that he's done for this organization and talk about being a consistent, steady, Mr. Clutch player. That's him and he looks very, very good out there right now.
Reporter: Jason, sticking in the wide receiver realm, your thoughts on Ted Hurst growing as a wide receiver, has he kind of picked up faster or anything of that nature since arriving and getting more opportunities with J. Mack being out and Emeka and Buka?
Licht: Well, that certainly helped him, you know, after we drafted him, I personally thought, okay, this is a great situation for him to be behind these guys and learn, may not make a big impact for us this year, but, you know, one for the future. But I think he's proven to us throughout camp, even OTAs in the practice every day that he's been very, very steady and I think it's kind of evolved into, okay, we can use him this year and he's going to play a role.
Reporter: So, last time we talked to you, you said that you had never seen Baker this focused. It's been some time now since that conversation. What more have you seen from him?
Licht: The same thing, you know, we love Baker and, you know, Baker, there's nothing fake about Baker. Sometimes I wish there was maybe 10% more fake, but he's certainly motivated and we love that.
Reporter: What about the fact that he's not afraid to say what's on his mind and what's on his heart. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, but when he's out there on the field, he's able to manage that in terms of, like, not letting that affect his performance, whereas some athletes, it can result in, you know, mistakes and things like that. So, just his ability to kind of keep himself composed. Amid, you know, a summer where I know he wanted to get a new contract, he wasn't able to get it, but just his ability to go out there with that setback and perform each day.
Licht: Yeah, that was never a question of whether or not he would be able to focus and compartmentalize. That's a really strong trait of his. So, yeah, I'm very excited for the season.
Reporter: Obviously, the offensive line feels it's their responsibility to protect Baker. As he gets older, how much responsibility do you think he calls on Baker to protect Baker?
Licht: That's a great question. He's, I think, I think he's very mindful of that. I think all quarterbacks, as they have progressed through their career, I think they are a little bit more in tune with that. So, I think if you would ask him, I'm not sure what the answer would be, but I think he's probably pretty mindful of that.
Reporter: Can you talk about Kayden Fordham and what you saw from him this camp that got him on the team?
Licht: You know, he's a very instinctive player, everyday practice games, making a lot of plays in the right spot. He was, I think, the leading tackler in NCAA last year, and you don't do that by accident. So, I think he's got a really bright future, not only as a linebacker, but special teams, and putting a little emphasis on that.
Reporter: Yeah, I've raised a little bit, but you said before the game the other night that you were confident that Baker will be here for longer term, roughly. From my understanding, there's not been any communication going either way at this point. Will that reignite your plans to reengage that, or are you just like, I'm going to respect the deadline and we'll talk after the season?
Licht: Well, we certainly respect him wanting to focus on the season. We're focused on the season. It's been here long enough to know that in this league I don't want to make predictions on what could happen, what will happen, what won't happen. Right now we're all focused on, I've been waiting to say this for a long time, it's on to Cincinnati.
Reporter: I think we've talked since last year when some receivers went down, just what do you look for him in year two in this league?
Unknown: I'm sorry, say that again.
Reporter: You saw a guy like Tess Johnson step up last year when some guys went down with injuries, just what do you look for him in year two?
Licht: Taking a step forward. He's an explosive player. Love his energy. Everybody does. You can see him having even more of an impact for us this year.
Reporter: I don't think we've talked since you guys re-signed me today. I know we haven't, so if you could speak on that. I saw you were rubbing his back there on this first day of practice there, and you guys were smiling, so how happy are you guys to just kind of figure that out for him to get back in?
Licht: Very happy. Very excited. Anytime a man of his presence and what he's done and his size comes to me and says that he wants to stick around, you normally want to accommodate that.
Reporter: Jason, aside from Baker.
Unknown: Yeah.
Reporter: A number of other guys in contract here. Yayati Abi, Jason McLaughlin, Cody Mount. Any dialogue with any of those guys and their agents at this point?
Licht: I'm probably not going to talk about that up here. I don't like to talk about what's going on, but those guys are all outstanding players for us and love to have all of them in the future, but once again, on the Cincinnati.
Reporter: There's a high number of quarterbacks in this league that are making over 50 million a year. I want to say it's like 12. That's a huge chunk of change. Can you just explain the thought process about when you're preparing to make an investment like that and also, is that something ownership is comfortable with?
Licht: You're always comfortable with a great player and you make things work.
Reporter: Jason, with Kane, we kind of talk about undirected rookies is all one thing, but a lot of these undirected guys get like $200 dollars guaranteed. They get $2,000. I think there's four guys that made rosters across the entire league. They got less than that. In terms of the reach and the depth of scouting, just what that says and how cool it is to have a long shot like that to go through.
Licht: It's awesome. It's a scout's dream. It's what they do this for. I think I said this on the radio the other day. Once the draft is over, that's the part that everybody gets. It's all the media, all that, rounds one through seven, but then rounds eight, nine, and ten, that's when I step aside and let them do their work. They love it. They crave it. They've been doing a really, really, really good job for us. It's always a bonus when you can get somebody like that. But then you root for them to play well and give them a second deal, which we've done a lot of.
Reporter: Jason, what about Josiah Trotter? What's one of the biggest things that stood out to you after some preseason games going through the camp and everything? What stood out to you the most after drafting him?
Licht: He's a dog. He has a switch once he gets out there, and everybody sees it. It's what the great players have. We're hoping that he keeps ascending and becomes a great player that we think he can be.
Unknown: Okay.