Buccaneers All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs is expected to be sidelined for the start of the 2025 regular season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. 
Wirfs sprained the MCL in his right knee last November, per FOX Sports’ Greg Auman, but only missed one game before returning to the field. The soreness from that injury lingered into the offseason, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, sidelining Wirfs for parts of spring practices, during which he wore a brace on his knee. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said last month (via Auman) that Wirfs’ limited participation was “precautionary,” adding that “he’ll be fine in training camp.”
However, the team determined that surgery was best for Wirf’s long-term health. The knee scope revealed more damage than expected, and the 2020 first-rounder will be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list during training camp, per Stroud. His stay on the PUP list will likely extend into the regular season.
All eyes in Tampa Bay will now turn to the team’s tackle depth. Wirfs is not expected to miss more than a few games, so the Buccaneers are unlikely to flip right tackle Luke Goedeke to the blind side. The team swapped out veteran swing tackles this offseason, letting Justin Skule depart in free agency and signing Charlie Heck. Heck started two games at left tackle for the 49ers last season and will likely be the Buccaneers’ Week 1 starter.
Wirfs will now begin the recovery process from the recent surgery with the goal of missing as few games as possible. Of greater importance to both him and the Buccaneers will be a full and complete recovery from his MCL injury with five years remaining on his extension signed in 2024.
not great. 3-4 games?
Was this the guy who was hitting the face mask bong over zoom during the draft
I think you’re thinking of the leaked Laremy Tunsil video, which was before anyone had heard of Zoom.
Ugh, that’s a shame. Wirfs has a strong case to be considered Trent Williams’ successor as best left tackle in the game. I’m still a little bitter the Jets passed on him for Becton.
A little?
How about how we were negotiating with Hendrickson all day in free agency then pivoted to Lawson? The team is unbelievably good at making the wrong decisions
The Lawson thing I think is more bad luck. The guy tore his achilles before he could ever play a game for them. But yeah, taking Becton over Wirfs isn’t just a hindsight thing. That looked stupid in the moment too.
You’ll never be as bitter as Bears fans when Patrick Mahommes was passed over for a trade up for Mitch Trubisky
Gotta have a plan, this will hurt but they have played games without him the last 2-3 seasons. Guessing his knee had pain and swelling that was just not going away.