{"id":869114,"date":"2026-04-18T11:48:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T11:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869114\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T11:48:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T11:48:26","slug":"buccaneers-gm-jason-licht-just-dropped-a-major-kenyon-sadiq-hint-ahead-of-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869114\/","title":{"rendered":"Buccaneers GM Jason Licht just dropped a major Kenyon Sadiq hint ahead of NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5h\">The Tampa Bay Buccaneers approach the 2026 NFL Draft with most of their pressing needs on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5k\">But tight end is the main offensive position that the team needs to seriously upgrade. Cade Otton is a rock solid tight end, but there\u2019s no viable receiving threat behind him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">The team re-signed Ko Kieft, who\u2019s a great blocker and special teams contributor, but even his roster spot isn\u2019t set in stone. Rounding out the depth chart are Payne Durham and Devin Culp, who combined for only two catches last season.<\/p>\n<p>Kenyon Sadiq is the missing piece for Baker Mayfield and Buccaneers offense\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">It\u2019s been years since the Buccaneers made a significant investment in the tight end position, and this year might be the perfect time to add a premier talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">Kieft was a sixth-round draft pick in 2022. Durham was a fifth-round pick back in 2023 and Culp was a seventh-round pick back in 2024. Even the starter Otton was a fourth-round pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">Licht used to be much more willing to invest premium capital in the tight end position. He drafted Austin Seferian-Jenkins in the second round of his first ever draft as Bucs general manager in 2014. He drafted OJ Howard in the first round of 2017. While those gambles didn\u2019t pay off, it doesn\u2019t mean they should never spend early draft capital on a tight end again.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\">\u201cIt would be great to add a tight end to the roster that brings an element that maybe some of the others don\u2019t. We\u2019re happy with our group right now, but we\u2019re just doing our due diligence,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/0jOZjNTb4AQ?si=zXPH3q1frh9JJnfA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said Licht at his pre-draft press conference.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">If he\u2019s looking for a tight end to add a missing element, he needs to look no further than <a href=\"https:\/\/thepewterplank.com\/kenyon-sadiq-to-the-buccaneers-2026-nfl-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">Sadiq is a special prospect. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash ever for a tight end at 4.39 seconds. He\u2019s 6-foot-3, 241 pounds and his combination of size and speed make him a mismatch waiting to happen. He can be lined up as a receiving tight end but can also be moved into the slot receiver role in certain packages.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">He\u2019s also a capable run blocker, and can give the offense an all-around boost when he\u2019s on the field. Despite the team re-signing Otton, new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson deployed 2-tight end sets at one of the highest rates of any play caller last year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">If he wants to carry that over to Tampa Bay as expected, the Bucs will certainly need a better tight end option to pair with Otton than Kieft, Durham, or Culp.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">Sadiq is the missing ingredient that can unlock another dimension to the Bucs\u2019 offense. He and Otton complement each other perfectly and would form one of the best tight end duos in the league.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">If the Bucs opt to draft Sadiq at No. 15 overall, it would elevate the entire offense. <a href=\"https:\/\/thepewterplank.com\/baker-mayfield\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Baker Mayfield <\/a>would be the happiest player in the NFL as he\u2019d boast arguably the top arsenal of weapons the league has to offer, <a href=\"https:\/\/thepewterplank.com\/baker-mayfield-will-win-mvp-if-buccaneers-draft-prediction-comes-true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">setting him up for an MVP-caliber season in 2026. <\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow thepewterplank.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=thepewterplank.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Buccaneers approach the 2026 NFL Draft with most of their pressing needs on the defensive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,7,6,704,250,2597,2596],"class_list":{"0":"post-869114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","8":"tag-buccaneers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabaybuccaneers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116425557304956990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}