It was 1 year ago that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers received the gut-punch news about their best player before the training camp even began, when news broke that record-setting NFL All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs would 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.”
It was the start of what would end up being a nightmare season for both Wirfs and the Buccaneers.
Wirfs missed a career-high 5 games with knee and oblique injuries while the Buccaneers went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the 1st time in the 7 seasons since Wirfs was taken in the 1st round (No. 13 overall) of the 2020 NFL draft.
The 2026 season is taking a decidedly different tone, especially after the Buccaneers shared an insane video of the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Wirfs knocking out 2 reps in the hang clean at a staggering 365 pounds.
“Tristan Wirfs hang cleaning 365 pounds like it’s nothing,” the Buccaneers wrote.
Tristan Wirfs Gets Highest Trade Valuation on Bucs
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put out his annual NFL trade valuations list, and only 1 player on the Tampa Bay roster was deemed worthy of multiple 1st-round picks — that was Wirfs.
“The 27-year-old battled knee and oblique injuries last season, but if I had to pick someone to be the best left tackle in the NFL over the next five seasons, he would be my choice,” Barnwell wrote. “Wirfs allowed a 4.7% pressure rate and a 0.8% quick pressure rate in 2024, both of which led all left tackles. His absence and (mildly) limited performance after returning also directly led to Tampa’s struggles on the ground in 2025. He’s a complete player and one of the most valuable non-quarterbacks in football.”
Wirfs made history in 2024 before the season by signing the largest contract for an offensive tackle in NFL history — a 5-year, $140.6 million extension — then again following the season when he became the 1st player in NFL history to earn NFL All-Pro honors at both right offensive tackle and left offensive tackle.
B/R Calls Tristan Wirf’s ‘True Franchise Player’
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon put Wirfs on his list of the NFL’s “True Franchise Players” teams can build around in 2026. He was the highest-ranked offensive lineman to make the list.
“On a similar Hall of Fame track (to Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell) is Wirfs, who has been a first- or second-team All-Pro three times in six seasons and has just seven holding penalties in his entire career,” Gagnon wrote on July 15. “Sewell was PFF’s top-graded right tackle in 2025, while Wirfs was the No. 1 left tackle with a 92.7 rating. Sewell and Wirfs have been responsible for a grand total of five sacks since the start of 2024. We rank (Wirfs) one spot ahead of (Sewell) because the jury is still out on Sewell at left tackle.”
Wirfs was part of a rash of injuries that felled the Buccaneers in 2025. At one point in the 1st month of the season, they were missing 3 starters on the offensive line with Wirfs, right offensive tackle Luke Goedeke and guard Cody Mauch all out.
There were also long stretches of time without All-Pro wide receiver Mike Evans (9 games) and Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin (8 games), as well as 1,000-yard rusher Bucky Irving (7 games).
To top all of that off, quarterback Baker Mayfield was also dealing with serious injury issues.
Mayfield disclosed a variety of injuries suffered in 2025 while appearing on the 3rd season of the Netflix documentary series Quarterback.
“Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, on the Netflix series Quarterback, reveals he played with a sprained MCL and PCL since Week 2,” Tampa Bay Times NFL reporter Rick Stroud wrote on his official X account on July 13. “He also had a bad biceps contusion that was bruised and affected his velocity. Then the left shoulder injury vs. Rams. Bonus for toughness but it affected his play.”
Bucs All-Pro Tristan Wirfs Turning Heads Before Training Camp