2-time Super Bowl champion has strong take on Buccaneers

Long is not only impressed by how the team managed to remain competitive despite moving on from Tom Brady, but he believes they’re continuing to ascend, and ultimately transition into being recognized as an elite NFL program.

“They stuck the landing on bringing Baker Mayfield who people left for dead. They’ve had three offensive coordinators over the past three years. Todd Bowles has won in cap hell, 2-3 years ago, he won with injuries last year, got ‘em in the playoffs. Really knocking on the door of ‘elite’ this year, and I think they walk through the door this year.” 

It starts at the top

Long also acknowledged the integral role that Buccaneers’ GM Jason Licht and his scouting staff have done in terms of building this team into a legitimate contender. 

“Has any NFC team that was in the playoffs last year gained more ground than the Bucs? And I mean that in a sense that, the people who are injured are going to be back. There’s a lot of assuming that they’re going to stay healthy, but they also added free agents and draft picks in a really surgical manner. And those picks were engineered by a scouting program and a GM that has a track record of doing the right s***.”

You've got to give Chris Long some credit. It's no secret that NFL media, whether former players or not, tend to overlook the Bucs each and every season. Meanwhile, it's clear that Chris Long has taken the time to carefully consider what the Buccaneers have accomplished over the past half decade while also acknowledging the process they've utilized to add (and retain) talent, and why those factors could very well result in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being recognized as one of the NFL's elite team this season.