Buccaneers make two huge extensions ahead of 2025 season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' big duo is set to keep it going for a little while longer.

The Buccaneers announced on Thursday that general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles have both signed extensions, securing them in Tampa Bay for years to come. The years on the extension aren't known, but the contracts will secure the tandem that has led the Buccaneers to three-straight NFC South championships in three years.

Licht has been general manager of the Buccaneers since 2014, and despite a rough start where the Bucs only posted a winning record once in his first six years and did not make the playoffs, Tampa Bay stuck with him. That ended up being a great decision, as his hirings of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bruce Arians brought the team its second Super Bowl victory in 2020, and his continued drafting prowess and salary cap management has kept the Buccaneers in contention after the Brady era.

Bowles came to Tampa Bay with Bruce Arians, and when Arians abruptly retired in 2022, Bowles took over for him. Bowles' tenure has been somewhat bumpy despite success, with the Bucs having to dig themselves out of a hole twice in a row in 2023 and 2024 to make the playoffs, but his success has spoken for itself and the players in the locker room have stood behind him. Bowles brought on some outside help for his perceived clock management problems this offseason and is looking to retool a recently-lackluster defense, and those solutions could pay dividends for the Bucs for the next few years if Bowles is able to figure those things out.

Tampa Bay has recently prided itself as a stable organization, and the extensions on Licht and Bowles look to continue that trend going forward.