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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will hire Jason Licht as their general manager, if they can work out the contract details, according to Jay Glazer (update: hire confirmed by the Buccaneers, per Roy Cummings). Jason Licht was the final addition to a general manager search that has now taken three weeks. Licht is currently the vice president of player personnel with the Arizona Cardinals. The Bucs had previously been turned down by Chris Ballard, and had included Marc Ross, Morocco Brown and Lionel Vital in their search.
Licht has been with the Arizona Cardinals for three seasons, serving as director of player personnel for the first two. He has spent time working with the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins in the past, being exposed to a variety of successful front offices. He's been on the staff for four Super Bowl teams, and two Super Bowl winners. Interestingly, he's also worked as an offensive assistant coach with the Dolphins in 1996.
Licht has extensive experience as an executive, having served as vice president and assistant director of player personnel with the Philadelphia Eagles for several seasons. At that time Andy Reid had control over the team's personnel decisions, which will hopefully help him navigate the somewhat complicated power structure the Buccaneers will have in place.
Licht will not have final say over the roster, although he will have final say in the draft. He'll have to forge a good working relationship with Lovie Smith, who controls the 53-man roster. While the power relations are a little complicated, the success of this structure will boil down to the ability of Licht and Lovie Smith to work together.
