If there's anyone who's really aiming to keep the Saints-Bucs "rivalry" alive, it's Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht. The New Orleans Saints stay on Licht's mind so much that he used the Saints to motivate Rueben Bain Jr. during his opening press conference. When Bain was talking about teams passing on him, LIcht made sure to remind him that the Saints were one of those teams.
Bain didn't seem to care about Licht's comment, truthfully. Bain merely answered, "yeah, they did" with a laugh. Bain does seem like a player who uses teams passing on him as motivation. It doesn't help that the Saints seemed like a possible destination going into the draft, so playing them twice a year was probably something he was already looking forward to.
Jason Licht made it a point during Rueben Bain’s introductory press conference to remind Bain that the Saints passed on him.
— The Pewter Plank (@ThePewterPlank) April 24, 2026
Licht wasting no time bringing Bain into the Bucs-Saints NFC South rivalry! pic.twitter.com/a0A4KrdKV0
Jason Licht hasn't learned his lesson about trolling the Saints
You would think Licht would have learned his lesson about throwing shots the Saints' way by now. Clearly, he hasn't. Licht found himself thinking he was funny after the Buccaneers beat the Saints in their first faceoff.
The Bucs general manager posted an old clip of Jordan saying the Buccaneers would return to their old form when Tom Brady retired. It isn't the first time Licht has posted this clip, but he added a little spice this go around. He added a screenshot of Jordan's statline from the game.
Right after that, Tampa Bay absolutely nosedived for the rest of the season. The Buccaneers were 6-2 at the time of the post and leading the division going into their bye week. Then, they proceeded to lose 7 of their final 9 games of the season. The Buccaneers had to see the Saints in that span, and the game looked much different. Tyler Shough led the Saints to victory in a rainy, ugly affair.
Still, you have to hand it to Licht. The Saints-Bucs rivalry is a one sided affair. There's no Mike Evans vs. Marshon Lattimore to keep the fire or Brees vs Brady to attract the national audience. It's really just Bucs fans still calling it a rivalry. Licht does a good job keeping up his end of the bargain and so does Baker Mayfield.
Using the Saints to motivate your first round pick during his opening press conference shows how much this rivalry means to that side. Licht better hope it works out better than before.
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