Former NFL player and Superbowl champion defensive end Chris Long recently gave an extremely strong opinion on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading into the 2025 NFL season.

To say that Long is high on the Bucs would be an understatement, as the 11-year NFL veteran turned podcaster was absolutely gushing about the Buccaneers on a recent episode of his show, the Green Light with Chris Long.

“This Todd Bowles team, this Jason Licht outfit, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they’re one of the few programmatic teams in the NFL. And by that I mean, they have a way of doing things. They have a program in place.”

Unlike most national NFL personalities, it’s clear that Long is not sleeping on what the Buccaneers have accomplished over the past half decade.

“They have an intentionality about them. They won four straight division titles, quietly. Although they won the Super Bowl, it feels like people still undervalue them because we’re in the post-Tom Brady era.”

Jan 12, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) during the second quarter of a NFC wild card playoff against the Washington Commanders at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Long is not only impressed by how the team managed to remain competitive despite moving on from Tom Brady, but he believes they’re continuing to ascend, and ultimately transition into being recognized as an elite NFL program.

“They stuck the landing on bringing Baker Mayfield who people left for dead. They’ve had three offensive coordinators over the past three years. Todd Bowles has won in cap hell, 2-3 years ago, he won with injuries last year, got ‘em in the playoffs. Really knocking on the door of ‘elite’ this year, and I think they walk through the door this year.”

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Long also acknowledged the integral role that Buccaneers’ GM Jason Licht and his scouting staff have done in terms of building this team into a legitimate contender.

“Has any NFC team that was in the playoffs last year gained more ground than the Bucs? And I mean that in a sense that, the people who are injured are going to be back. There’s a lot of assuming that they’re going to stay healthy, but they also added free agents and draft picks in a really surgical manner. And those picks were engineered by a scouting program and a GM that has a track record of doing the right s***.”