Buccaneers GM Jason Licht again dismisses major Rueben Bain Jr. concern

Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht is spending portions of the spring telling anybody who will listen that he's thrilled he was able to get Miami edge-rusher Rueben Bain Jr. with the 15th overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Licht has repeatedly brushed off the arm-length concerns that hovered over Bain's status leading up to the draft and that may have caused the prospect to slide past the 14th choice. During an NFL Network interview that aired on Friday morning, Licht again addressed a topic that Bain and the Buccaneers seemingly won't be able to escape anytime soon. 

Buccaneers didn't "overthink" when Rueben Bain Jr. fell to them

"Every year, I think, we all seem to invent new ways to overthink things," Licht explained, per the JoeBucsFan website. "The arm length, all the different measurements, they all come into play in all of our meetings, the 1,000 hours of meetings that we log."

For a time, Licht was worried that either the Baltimore Ravens or Las Vegas Raiders could keep the Buccaneers from getting Bain. The Ravens then backed out of their agreement to acquire star pass-rusher Maxx Crosby from the Raiders, and Las Vegas signing former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum impacted Baltimore's decision to take guard Vega Ioane at selection No. 14. 

Buccaneers: The Rueben Bain Jr. tape doesn't lie

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Bain and New York Jets pass-rusher David Bailey tied as the co-betting favorites at +500 odds to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award for the 2026 season. Arvell Reese of the New York Giants was third on the list at +650 odds at that time. 

The Jets selected Bailey with the second pick, while the Giants got Reese at choice No. 5. 

"If you stare at the tape long enough, I’ve learned, the tape usually wins the argument," Licht added during his comments about Bain. "That’s the conclusion that we came to. We never thought [short arms] was a hindrance in his play. I’ve said this before, but you can probably ask all the tackles in the SEC, Big Ten and ACC if [Bain’s] short arms were a hindrance in his play. They’d probably all agree that it doesn’t."

It sounds like Licht believes he'll be taking some victory laps about drafting Bain at this time in 2027.