The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without the best player on their roster to start the 2024 NFL season, if not longer.
ESPN reported on July 9 that record-setting NFL All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs will miss the start of the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on July 8.
From ESPN: “Wirfs likely will start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, sources confirmed to ESPN. If he is placed on the PUP list, Wirfs would miss at least Tampa Bay’s first four games.”
Wirfs also missed a career high 4 games in 2022 but still earned Pro Bowl and NFL All-Pro honors.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pound superstar has only missed 5 games, total, through his first 5 NFL seasons, where he’s been a 3-time NFL All-Pro, 4-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion. Wirfs is also the only player in NFL history to earn NFL All-Pro honors at both right offensive tackle and left offensive tackle, his current position.
Wirfs caused some concern at minicamp in June when he showed up wearing a bulky knee brace.
“As of now, it seems like Wirfs’ right knee is no major cause for concern,” Heavy.com’s Michael Obermuller wrote on June 10. “But if you’re expecting the core foundational pillar to line up on the practice field this week, think again. The Bucs have no reason to risk an injury to one of their most important players. With that being said, it would make sense to keep Wirfs on ice until training camp starts up in late July, a plan Bowles hinted may come to pass on Tuesday.”
Losing Wirfs for any extended period of time could be devastating to the Buccaneers’ hopes of making the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.
Buccaneers Made Wirfs NFL’s Highest Paid OL
The Buccaneers showed Wirfs exactly what they thought of him when they made him the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history when they signed him to a 5-year, $140.6 million contract extension in August 2024.
Wirfs’ extension included almost $90 million in guaranteed money.
“The Buccaneers announced the five-year extension Thursday,” wrote ESPN’s Jenna Laine wrote on August 1, 2024. “The team did not disclose the value of the deal but confirmed that Wirfs received the largest deal for an NFL offensive tackle and the largest in Buccaneers history. Wirfs, a three-time Pro Bowler, was in the final year of his rookie contract and slated to play under the fifth-year option that paid $18.24 million this year. He now is contractually tied to Tampa Bay through 2029.”
Journeyman Currently Listed as Wirfs’ Backup
Journeyman Charlie Heck is currently listed on Tampa Bay’s depth chart as Wirfs’ backup, although a better option might be to move right tackle Luke Goedeke over to that spot while Wirfs recovers and put Heck at right tackle.
“It’s a big blow for the Bucs,” The Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on July 9. “Wirfs protects the blind side of quarterback Baker Mayfield, one of his closest friends on the team. The Bucs signed 49ers free agent left tackle Charlie Heck, who is likely to replace Wirfs to start the season.”
Heck was a fourth round pick (No. 126 overall) by the Houston Texans out of North Carolina in the 2020 NFL draft and spent his first 4 seasons there, but is now on his fourth team in 3 years after stints with the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
In 5 seasons, Heck has 23 career starts, including a career high 13 starts with the Texans in 2021.
