The Buccaneers don’t have to look far for one of their biggest advantages. Tristan Wirfs is already that guy - the kind of offensive lineman teams spend years trying to find, and Bleacher Report now has him stacked up with the NFL’s best franchise pieces.
In a recent ranking of the league’s top long-term building blocks, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon slotted Wirfs ninth overall. The list was built around players clubs can trust to shape the future, and Wirfs was one of only a few offensive linemen to crack it.
The case for him is pretty simple: elite production, elite consistency, and almost no wasted plays. Gagnon noted that Wirfs has collected three first- or second-team All-Pro selections in six seasons while being charged with just seven holding penalties over his entire NFL career. He also pointed to Pro Football Focus’ 2025 grades, where Wirfs finished as the highest-graded left tackle in the league with a 92.7 overall mark.
The PFF numbers back up the reputation. Wirfs posted a 91.6 run-blocking grade and an 84.9 pass-blocking grade in 2025, and he gave up only two sacks, four quarterback hits, and 17 total pressures over 474 pass-blocking snaps. Even while seeing plenty of the NFL’s best edge rushers, his 97.2 pass-blocking efficiency ranked near the top of the position.
Gagnon also drew a line to Detroit’s Penei Sewell, noting the two tackles have combined to allow five sacks since the start of the 2024 season. Sewell has made his name as one of the league’s premier right tackles, but Gagnon gave Wirfs the nod because he has already shown he can dominate on the left side after earning All-Pro recognition at right tackle.
That kind of flexibility is rare. Wirfs is the only player in NFL history to earn Associated Press First-Team All-Pro honors at both right tackle and left tackle, and that makes him one of the most valuable protectors in the game for Baker Mayfield’s blind side.
For Tampa Bay, it all adds up to a major foundation piece at a position that can change everything. Bleacher Report’s ranking just puts a sharper spotlight on what the Buccaneers already know: Wirfs is one of the league’s true cornerstones.
In Other News...
Bucs Just Got A Valuation That Feels Like A Rebuild Warning
The Buccaneers are already juggling some important business as the offseason picture starts to sharpen, with contract talks still unresolved for Baker Mayfield and Vita Vea and Todd Bowles heading toward a 2026 season that will come with real scrutiny. Against that backdrop, ESPNs Bill Barnwell took a broader look at Tampa Bays roster and the kind of players who could fetch major trade value, a reminder of how much talent the team has accumulated even as the long-term direction remains unsettled.
What stands out is not that Tampa Bay is shopping anyone, but that the names near the top of that valuation exercise are the sort of players contenders usually build around, not move away from. Tristan Wirfs, Emeka Egbuka and Rueben Bain Jr. all drew first-round-pick-level interest in Barnwells framework, which says plenty about the Bucs ceiling and also why this roster keeps drawing attention from around the league. It is the kind of list that can look flattering one day and like a warning sign the next. [Read more 🡒]
These 3 Buccaneers Camp Battles Could Shape Tampa Bays Season
Training camp is going to do a lot of sorting for the Buccaneers, and a few of the most interesting decisions are already taking shape on the defensive side and behind Baker Mayfield. At outside cornerback, Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish are in the mix for a starting job, while the backup quarterback picture has Jake Browning as the frontrunner with Jalon Daniels and Connor Bazelak also trying to carve out a role.
The same kind of pressure extends to the edge rotation, where Chris Braswell and Anthony Nelson are fighting for one of the last outside linebacker spots. For Tampa Bay, these are the kinds of battles that can quietly define a roster, because the winners do not just make the team, they help determine how much depth and stability the Bucs have when the season starts to test them. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Bucs Suddenly Have A Real Shot At The South
The Buccaneers spent much of last season looking like a team built to control the NFC South before injuries and inconsistency turned the race into a scramble. Tampa Bay still has the core of a roster good enough to win the division, and the arrival of new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson gives Baker Mayfield a chance to get back on track after a step back in production a year ago.
That matters because the South does not have a clear front-runner, with Carolina, Atlanta and New Orleans all part of a division that feels open heading into the season. If Mayfield can push closer to the level Tampa Bay expected when it brought him in, the Bucs will not just be in the conversation again, they could be the team everyone else is chasing. [Read more 🡒]