Tristan Wirfs describes how Buccaneers made transition from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield

Star offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs entered the NFL when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made him a first-round pick during the 2020 draft, and he had Tom Brady as his starting quarterback for three straight seasons before Baker Mayfield helped the club claim a pair of division titles. 

During a recent chat with Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team, Wirfs described how the Buccaneers made the transition from arguably the greatest overall player in NFL history to their current QB1. 

"I thought it went pretty smooth," Wirfs explained, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "I mean, Baker came in and kind of just won everyone over, just with being who he is, you know? His personality is incredible. And he’s a baller. He’s a dawg."

Brady guided the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in his first season with the franchise, but he was a 44-year-old seven-time champion when he and Tampa Bay were unquestionably impacted by his public divorce from Gisele Bundchen that played out during the 2022 campaign. Meanwhile, Mayfield was simply looking to resurrect his career when he and Wirfs became fast friends after the signal-caller signed a one-year contract with the Buccaneers in March 2023. 

"It was really cool for me, you know. I mean, basically [Mayfield is] a little bit older than me, but, like, somebody — Tom was 22 years older than me — so like having somebody my age and that I could hang out with, go to dinner with, just all that stuff. So I think that really, really helped us click off the bat," Wirfs said about his relationship with Mayfield. "But I thought it was a really smooth transition."

It also didn't hurt that Mayfield enjoyed arguably the best two seasons of his career with Tampa Bay. According to Pro Football Reference, he ended the 2024 season ranked third in the NFL with 4,500 passing yards, tied for second with 41 touchdowns through the air and fourth with a 106.8 passer rating. Following Tampa Bay's Week 11 bye, he led the club to six wins in seven games to secure a fifth-straight playoff berth for the organization. 

Last week, Buccaneers running back Rachaad White raised some eyebrows when he said Mayfield and not Brady "is the best quarterback I’ve ever played with." Wirfs didn't go quite that far but nevertheless left little doubt he enjoys sharing a locker room with Mayfield. 

"You know Bake’s my quarterback," Wirfs added. "Ride and die with. So it’s pretty awesome. I love him to death."