The first name to come up as a Jaguars GM candidate, Mike Greenberg is out of that mix. Tampa Bay will retain its assistant GM, as Greenberg has informed Jacksonville he is out of the running, the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud reports.
Greenberg has been with the Bucs for 15 years, becoming a crucial cog — particularly with regards to the club’s cap management — for a team that has lost two key staffers this offseason. In addition to Liam Coen‘s exit to become the Jaguars’ HC, fellow Bucs assistant GM John Spytek is now the Raiders’ GM. Despite a Jags interview request to potentially follow Coen north, Greenberg will help the Bucs ensure some staff continuity.
[RELATED: Where Does Jaguars’ GM Search Stand?]
It was interesting that Coen wanted to keep working with Greenberg, as the two only overlapped for one season in Tampa. Greenberg also was part of Coen’s messy exit. When Coen was secretly negotiating with the Jags, after having informed the Bucs he intended to stay and sign a lucrative coordinator extension, Greenberg was among the high-ranking staffers who attempted to contact him. Greenberg wanted to reach Coen regarding an offensive staffer, but his call went unreturned. Still, Coen subsequently wanted to see about working with the longtime Tampa Bay front office mainstay.
A report out of Jacksonville late last month indicated Coen was “pushing hard” to bring Greenberg with him. Greenberg’s decision to pass centers around his loyalty to the Bucs rather than any hard feelings toward Coen, Stroud adds, as the Tampa Bay AGM was honored to be considered. He will continue working with Jason Licht, as the Bucs attempt to construct a fifth straight NFC South champion.
Promoted to assistant GM in 2023, Greenberg interviewed for the Panthers and Jets’ GM jobs over the past two years. This Jags decision being categorized as Bucs loyalty is obviously worth noting, but Greenberg’s decision to take those interviews while passing on the Jags job certainly signals some trepidation with the position. The Jags fired their previous GM (Trent Baalke) midway through their coaching search, with the ouster appearing to be the key driver for Coen to move forward and accept their HC offer. The gig came with Coen being free to pick a GM and reside atop the team’s personnel pyramid, Tony Boselli‘s arrival as executive VP notwithstanding.
A Monday report indicated the next Jags GM will not answer to Boselli, but the Hall of Fame tackle will still have a key organizational voice. Boselli will report to ownership, joining Coen in that regard. Boselli’s new presence, along with Coen’s power, would stand to reduce this GM role’s responsibility. That may well have impacted Greenberg’s decision. The Bucs have also blocked Coen from poaching O-line coach Kevin Carberry and assistant OL coach Brian Picucci. Tuesday’s Greenberg news marks another successful Bucs retention effort.
Hired years before Licht’s arrival, Greenberg has been an integral part of the Bucs’ 2020s success. Ending a 12-year playoff drought, Greenberg helped the Bucs build their Super Bowl LV roster and was one of the key drivers in crafting a strategy that helped the team bring back every core player for the 2021 season. After Tom Brady‘s retirement left the franchise with a $35MM dead money bill, Licht, Greenberg and Spytek weathered the storm and still had the team in the divisional round. This past offseason, the Bucs found room to pay Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield Jr. Licht will have Greenberg by his side for at least one more offseason.
Now if Greenberg wants to play it like Coen did, tomorrow he will not show up at work with the Bucs, will conveniently have a sick kid, will ghost Licht and return to Jacksonville to ink the deal absent any class.
After all, what’s the excuse for leaving your morals at the alter? “I mean, I had to. There are only 32 of these jobs in the NFL.”
Nah, Greeny would never do that. There will be no Coen two-peat.
I don’t think it’s a question of morals at all. You have services to sell and there is nothing unethical about taking a deal that improves your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re an employee at Walmart or an NFL GM. You have to do what’s in your best interests…because no one else is going to.
Jon Robinson is a perfectly good GM and the Jags should hire him.
Read my first paragraph again. It’s about how it went down. If Coen would have simply, immediately placed a call to Jason Licht saying, “Bro, the Jags aren’t taking no for an answer. As I understand it, they’re giving me an offer I really can’t, in good conscience to myself and my family, ignore. What do I do?”
Jason would have responded with, “I get it. Liam, while I’m highly disappointed we may lose you, I get it. Thanks for keeping me in the loop and being professional and respectful enough to not put us in an embarrassing position.”
Not that hard.
You would have taken the job. I would have taken the job. Almost anyone would…it’s about the “how” it went down.
Greeny happened to take the high road and I have a sneaky suspicion he’ll be rewarded greatly when all is said and done. Respect.
I was not listening in on any conversations Coen had with either the Bucs or Jags so I really wouldn’t care to speculate on how it went down. I suspect the media were also absent from those conversations… so we’re left trying to decide how credible their reporting was.