Buccaneers GM Jason Licht, 'I Hate' the New Orleans Saints

Add Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht to the list of those willing to talk about the division rivalry between his team and the New Orleans Saints.

David Harrison | Oct 9, 2023

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Twice a year New Orleans Saints players and fans will go to every length possible to talk about their non-rivalry with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Some look to discount the Buccaneers as a quality foe in their arguments while others lean on the historic dominance the Saints have shown in the matchup history to say a rivalry has to be competitive to exist.

Regardless of its rivalry status Bucs vs. Saints has become an annual clash of NFC South Division teams that entertains and oftentimes helps determine who that year's champion will be.

During Tampa Bay's Super Bowl run, the Saints provided the hurdle needed for general manager Jason Licht's team to make it to the top of the NFL mountain, and was the most satisfying win of them all he recently told Peter Schrager of NFL Network.

"I hate them," Licht said about the Saints. "They're just always such a tough team and especially going there it's such a tough place to win. They beat us twice that year and we went in and beat them, and I just kind of got the sense that - I don't think they were guaranteeing everybody that they were going to win - but they just had a cockiness to them, which they should, they were a great team."

Licht prepositioned his comments by stating that they came out of a place of respect earned over years of enduring tough losses to the division rival.

New Orleans has a 39-25 all-time record against the Buccaneers dating back to their first contest in 1977, including the playoffs.

The Saints have enjoyed several winning streaks in the series with the latest being a five-game stretch from December of 2018 to the very Divisional Round playoff game Licht was speaking about.

Currently, the Bucs are on a three-game streak of their own after taking both regular season contests last season and the lone game they've played against each other this year.

Including winning that playoff game that sent New Orleans legend quarterback Drew Brees into retirement Tampa Bay has won four of the last six and will have a shot at making it five of the last seven when the two non-rivals face off again on New Year's Eve.

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Published Oct 9, 2023

DAVID HARRISON

David Harrison has been in sports media since 2015 using written, audio, and video media to cover athletes, coaches, and games. In addition to covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for BucsGameday and Locked On Bucs he also covers the Washington Commanders for Commander Country and Locked On Commanders and the Washington Wizards for Inside the Wizards. David also covers the NFL as a whole as one of the Friday hosts for Locked On NFL. He is a graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and previously spent 20 years as an active member of the United States Army. Contact David via email at david.w.harrison82@gmail.com or on Twitter @DHarrison82.