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NFL insider has a troubling prediction for Tristan Wirfs

PFT’s Mike Florio isn’t sold on the idea of Tristan Wirfs waiting until next offseason to work out his contract situation.

By Josh Hill

NFL insider Mike Florio is predicting Tampa Bay Buccaneers star tackle Tristan Wirfs as a potential holdout candidate.
NFL insider Mike Florio is predicting Tampa Bay Buccaneers star tackle Tristan Wirfs as a potential holdout candidate. / Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
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We’re almost to the final stage of the NFL offseason, as training camp is just a few weeks away. When it arrives, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a pretty significant question that needs to be answered right off the bat.

Tristan Wirfs needs a new contact, and it seems he’s unwilling to wait until next offseason to sort things out. He’s one of the best, if not the best, offensive tackles in the league but he’s paid in the bottom portion of his position pool.

Without a doubt, that’s going ot change. Wirfs watched teammate Antoine Winfield Jr. become the highest-paid defensive back in the NFL and it’s likely that anothe resetting of the market is in store. When it happens is the big question, and NFL insider Mike Florio thinks Wirfs have all the leverage to make it happen now heading into training camp.

PFT thinks Tristan Wirfs might hold out on Buccaneers during training camp

Florio looked at a few veterans who might hold out for new contracts this season and highlighted Wirfs among them. While Wirfs hasn’t come out and said anything publicly, Florio points to an absence at mandatory minicamp and the sizable gap in value as reasons a holdout might happen soon.

"With only $18.44 million in salary for 2024, he’s been looking for a new deal all year. He showed up at mandatory minicamp. Again, that’s no guarantee he’ll show up for training camp unless he gets a contract offer that prompts him to sign on the dotted line," Florio wrote.

There’s an important wrinkle that needs to be pointed out. Wirfs didn’t participate in mandatory minicamp, but he did show up. Rather than practice, he worked out and didn’t seem to be a distraction, which is likely what the case will be at training camp even if he holds out.

Don’t get it twisted, Wirfs deserves to get paid top dollar by the Buccaneers and there’s almost zero chance Tampa Bay fails to find a way to make this all work. The problem seems to be that the Bucs kicked the Wirfs can down the road in order to re-sign Baekr Mayfield and Mike Evans while giving Winfield a record-breaking contract.

None of that is an excuse for not taking care of Wirfs, but it helps explain why there might be a bit of a gap between the two sides. Either way, a deal is likely going to get done in the near future, even if that means Wirfs needing to force Tampa Bay’s hand to make it happen.

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