Jason Licht, Lionel Vital interviewed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers helmet on the field during training camp at One Buccaneer Place. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a laundry list of GM candidates, and they have wasted no time trying to interview as many of them as possible- a couple of them even have second interviews set up. Atlanta Falcons director of player personnel Lionel Vital seems to be their top candidate, and the previous director of player personnel, David Caldwell, was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars as their GM last year and has been a success through his first season with the organization.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Vital, as was reported earlier, did indeed interview with the Buccaneers for a second time yesterday, and he would be a nice “flip” hire in the NFC South. Kansas City Chiefs respected front office man Chris Ballard was originally the Buccaneers top candidate due to his own prowess and connection with current Bucs head man Lovie Smith from their days with the Chicago Bears, but it looks like Vital is the new leader.
There are other candidates well-worth watching for closely, as Schefter also reports that Arizona Cardinals VP of Player Personnel Jason Licht also received an interview with the Buccaneers yesterday. Licht is one of the top executives in the league, so the Buccaneers would get a nice fish if they are able to hire him. Pretty much all of their candidates are well-respected, and all of them except for Tom Gamble, who is the best of the bunch, seem to be within reach. Marc Ross of the New York Giants is worth watching, but Tennessee Titans exec Lake Dawson is probably the No. 2 candidate for the GM job behind Vital. Dawson is reportedly set to get his callback interview with the Buccaneers done today.