The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent all offseason bringing back key players, but perhaps the most important piece of the offense still needs a new deal.
A long-term deal for Tristan Wirfs is an inevitability, but the Pro Bowl tackle is officially turning some screws to try and get something done sooner rather than later. On the heels of Antoine Winfield Jr., Mike Evans, and Baker Mayfield all getting new deals, Wirfs is officially holding out and drawing a line in the sand with the Bucs.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Wirfs is not expected to report to OTAs until he gets a new contract. It sounds harsher than it is, as Wirfs is simply trying to avoid an injury at camp before he lands the lucrative new deal everyone expects him to get.
#Bucs OT Tristan Wirfs did not report to OTAs and doesn’t plan to in the immediate future, per source. The multi-year All-Pro seeks a long-term contract and does not want to risk injury. Sides have not made progress on a new deal. pic.twitter.com/efdZ7aKhv5
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 21, 2024
Tristan Wirfs holding out on Buccaneers isn't as bad as it might seem
This isn't as unexpected a development as it might get advertised as, especially when it comes to the Bucs potentially losing Wirfs. Much like what happened with Baker, Evans, and Winfield, the Buccaneers are simply not going to lose Wirfs unless something goes horribly wrong along the way.
Simply put, there are more ways this goes well for Tampa Bay than it doesn't.
Wirfs holding out now is more about making sure nothing goes wrong on his end in terms of an injury. The last thing anyone wants is for Wirfs to get hurt and for that to complicate what should be an otherwise smooth process.
This negotiation will probably be more along the lines of how things went with Winfield than Baker and Evans. Wirfs is the best tackle in football and he deserves to be paid as such, and this will be all about finding the right middle ground.
Winfield and the Bucs took a little bit longer than anyone expected to agree to a long-term deal, but something eventually got done that satisifed all involved. That's probably how this will go, but nothing is certain untli the ink is dry.
Even with that said, the idea of Wirfs somehow getting away from the Bucs borders on near-impossibility and everyone should take a deep breath as this process begins to unfold.