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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Make Front Office Changes, Lose Director of College Scouting Eric Stokes

The draft is complete, which means the Buccaneers can start shifting personnel in the front office like they did on the roster shortly after the change to the Lovie/Licht era.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers waited until after the draft to begin changing their front office personnel, but just a handful of days after the completion of the NFL Draft, we have our first big shakeup at One Buc Place.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, the Buccaneers have brought in Jon Robinson from New England, who held the position of Director of College Scouting with the Patriots.

Reiss also reported that Eric Stokes, the Bucs now former Director of College Scouting, is heading to Miami to work with Dennis Hickey, former right-hand man to Mark Dominik. That means Robinson may step in to replace Stokes at the same position, although Pat Yasinskas of ESPN says that Robinson will be Director of Player PersonnelAdam Caplan of ESPN agrees, and says it will be a new experience for the former Pats executive, as he'll be dealing with pro personnel.

Robinson has been a member of the Patriots organization since 2002, when he started as a scout. He rose through the ranks quickly, earning the title of Director of College Scouting in 2009. That means that under his guidance, the Patriots have drafted Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Spikes, Nate Solder, Shane Vereen, Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower and others.

Robinson's ties to Licht stem from their time together in New England, and according to Reiss, it was Licht who helped bring Robinson into the fold in New England to begin his scouting career in the first place.

By all accounts, Eric Stokes has done a fine job in charge of the Tampa Bay scouting department, but Jason Licht was always going to build his own staff full of his guys once the 2014 Draft was over and done with. This is unlikely to be the last move the Bucs make in the front office this summer.