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Bucs GM Jason Licht: Off-field stuff is 'always in the back of your mind'

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will almost certainly draft a quarterback at No. 1 overall. The big question is whether it will be Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota.

Both quarterbacks impressed on and off the field at the NFL Scouting Combine, but Bucs general manager Jason Licht knows there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered between now and the draft.

As Licht told MMQB's Peter King:

I've been lucky in this league in my 20 years. I've seen some great ones. I was in Miami starting out when Dan Marino was there. I worked for New England and watched Tom Brady grow. And I've been around Donovan McNabb and Kurt Warner. I've seen the common threads. And now in these two quarterbacks, I see an amazing amount in common. They both had great success in college. Both won a Heisman. Both winners. Both tape junkies. Both coaches' dreams. Both mentally can handle the pressure of what they're about to face.

But I'd be lying if I said I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the off-field stuff. It's always in the back of your mind. We're people too. We have wives and daughters and bosses to answer to. And at the end of the day we will do the kind of due diligence the likes of which I don't believe the Bucs will have ever done. This decision is going to affect so many people and their families. We've got to get it right.

Winston reportedly did incredibly well in his combine interviews, but with the NFL's revamped personal conduct policy and the shortening shelf life of general managers, his off-field concerns can't be overlooked.

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