Buccaneers’ offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs is absolutely that guy. There were some that doubted that he could smoothly make the transition from RT to LT.
Well I am happy to say all of the doubters were proven wrong. He has 313 offensive snaps and has allowed 2 pressures and is the highest graded lineman right now by PFF. I would say that’s pretty good for a guy playing a new position. Jason Licht will need to find the gold pot at the end of the rainbow to properly compensate him.
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So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of the numbers here. Trent Williams right now has the highest value contract and is probably the best comparison to Wirfs. Note I said the highest valued contract as technically Laremy Tunsil is the highest paid at $25 million a year as opposed to Williams $23 million a year. Just something else to keep in mind. Now, Trent Williams signed that deal back in 2021 where he was graded at a 97.8. Obviously GMs don’t use PFF grades to determine a contract extension (at least good ones don’t). But it’s helpful to see where they’re both at.
Right now, Wirfs has an 82.3 grade. And he has never been graded as highly as Williams has in any year. However, you have to remember that Trent Williams has only ever played LT. Wirfs has proven to be able to play both LT and RT with just as much skill at both.
So, looking at Spotrac, they believe that Wirfs is owed a 4-year, $109.3 million extension. Thus, he would overtake Tunsil as the highest paid tackle. Looking at this, I think it would be a very fair deal as Wirfs does deserve to be the highest paid. But there are other factors to keep in mind. I think that Licht would likely want this deal to be a lot longer to ensure that he stays here for a lot longer.
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Also, the longer the deal, it would put off the market being reset by another ludicrous deal. Tunsil has made a great living doing this as he signs three year extensions at the end of his last deal. Because of that, the market will have been raised by someone who had been paid that same offseason (last season I believe that man was Chris Lindstrom), and so the Texans have to compensate him more. If Licht were to work out a 10-year deal, as crazy as that sounds, it would ensure that doesn’t happen and the team would actually save money in the long-run.
The other thing is that him and Mike Greenburg have done a great job of keeping players at a slight discount. This is mostly due to Licht drafting players that are generally unselfish, but also because players like playing for our coaches. Jamel Dean cited playing for Bowles as a big reason for wanting to stay in Tampa with the Buccaneers. Everyone always wants players to be paid the big bucks, except when they realize how much it can hamstring a team. In theory, I want Wirfs to get $200 million. But that would be bad for the team. We also need to extend players like Antoine Winfield and potentially Mike Evans. Both players in the upper echelon of their respective positions as well.
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It is very hard to predict these sorts of things so far in advance. But if Wirfs keeps having the season that he is having, The Buccaneers will compensate him. While I hope he gets what he deserves, I really hope that the team has enough left to extend Winfield at the bare minimum. Devin White and Evans would also be nice, but Wirfs and Winfield are the top prize. I don’t think I was wrong about the length of his contract though. If he is a pro-bowler his first year at LT, he ought to get a lifetime deal.
Make sure you check out Devin’s blog at cannoncrunch.wordpress.com.
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