Bucs general manager Jason Licht spoke to the media following Tampa Bay’s jump over San Francisco in the first round to select Iowa offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
An extremely versatile and athletic tackle at 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, Wirfs played three years at Iowa, starting as a true freshman and getting experience at both left and right tackle in college. Licht spoke not only about Wirfs’ talent and versatility on the field, but added that he’s the kind of humble and hard-working person that the Bucs are excited to have joining their offensive line – likely to start at right tackle, replacing Demar Dotson.
On what he gave up to trade up and how excited he was to get Wirfs:
“He’s a great athlete, but just as important, he’s a great guy. He’s a hard worker, he’s very smart, top-notch character guy in addition to being a great player. We saw that the run of tackles happened a little later than we expected and we thought that there was a chance that someone could come up and get him and we didn’t want to risk it. As Bruce [Arians] says, “No risk it, no biscuit.” So we had to give up a little capital to go and get him but in this case we thought, because of the player and position – but especially the player – that it was worth it.”
Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
On what separates Wirfs from the other tackles in the drafts:
“We think he’s a versatile guy. He’s started at both right and left tackle and he’s done a great job at both positions. I’m sure Bruce can tell you more about this but the plan is to put him at right tackle. He’s an incredible athlete and I think that he still has a huge ceiling, he also has a high floor. I think that he’s a very good player, but I think that he has a tremendous amount of upside still ahead of him.”
On the relief of drafting a guy like Wirfs to protect Tom Brady:
“We’re just very excited to have him as a player. We feel good about Joe Haeg, we feel good about Brad Seaton, we feel good about Donovan [Smith]. So we feel like we have some good players on our team but to add a young guy into the mix that has a chance to be a very, very good player at his position – it feels incredible. It feels great. We’re just very excited. He hasn’t played a game yet in the NFL so we’ll have to see how it goes. We’re not anointing him as a future Hall of Famer yet, but we’re just very excited to work with him. Especially the type of kid that he is, I’m sure that he’s going to come in and know that he has to earn his keep.”
On how they had to navigate the draft with no clear-cut best tackle among the top four:
“When you say there wasn’t a consensus, I would say that you’re saying there wasn’t a consensus among the media and the mock draft guys. We rank every player and at the end of the day our job – Bruce and I and our staff – is to rank them. So we did have an order, but we liked all four tackles that have gone so far and I’ll tell you it was very, very close and that we’re thrilled to death that we got Tristan.”
On if signing Brady pushed the issue to get an upgrade at offensive tackle:
“I would say no. No matter who’s playing quarterback you want good tackles. So I would say no, I would say that we’d always prioritize that position as one that we would want to solidify and try to solidify. It doesn’t matter who’s playing quarterback, you want to be able keep them upright. I know the fact Tom’s a little up there in age, people are making a little bigger of a deal of that. Yeah, we do want to protect him, but any quarterback that’s back there we want to protect.”
On if he sees Wirfs as a long-time right tackle or whether he sees him eventually competing at left tackle:
“We’ll take it one day at a time. I can’t predict what’s going to happen 10 years from now. We’ll take it one day at a time, but one of the things that we liked about Tristan is that he’s athletic, very athletic, and that he’s played both spots and done a hell of a job at both spots. The future – we’ll have to see. I don’t have a crystal ball in front of me right now but one of the reasons that we had him as high as we did is that we thought he had a chance to play both spots but right now we’re focused on right tackle.”
Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Getty Images
On what he knows about Wirfs’ personally and how rare it is to find an offensive tackle this athletic:
“It is pretty rare, he ran in the 4.8’s – mid-to-low 4.8’s – in the 40, which is not why we drafted him where we did, but it is an indication of how athletic he is. My six-year-old son, Theo, the first thing he asked was if he’s faster than Devin White. I had to say no, but he was amazed by how fast he was. He’s got very good quickness. He’s got very good feet, very good agility, and he can run, which is a great asset for an offensive tackle to have, but it’s not the number one thing. We like the fact that he comes out of a program that’s known for developing offensive lineman and Kirk Ferentz, his son Brian, who I’ve worked with, and the entire staff there – and very good coaches – so it’s a big plus when you can get a guy out of a great program like that. They know how to work, they know it’ll be a seamless transition into B.A.’s offense and B.A.’s style. Those are a lot of the things that we liked.”
On his phone call with the 49ers to trade up:
“We did make a lot of phone calls and we received a lot of phone calls over the last couple of days and I’ve been keeping Bruce abreast of this and we’ve talked through a lot of this. We were on the phone with the 49ers well before their pick. We’ve been talking with them for a few days along with a few other teams. When you make that call when they’re on the clock you don’t have to start the conversation from square one. They knew that we’d be interested, I knew that there were a lot of teams trying to move into San Francisco’s spot. So it was an easy conversation. This is what we’d be willing to do and the haggling had been going on for a few days.”
On his phone call with Wirfs after making the pick:
“I’d say that he’s a low-key personality – that’s one of the things that I like about him. He’s a typical offensive lineman from the Midwest, which I have an affinity for, but I probably saw a little bit more of a spike in his voice than I’ve heard since we’ve been talking to him at the combine. He’s very excited. I told him, ‘You’re a Buccaneer, you’re going to be playing for Bruce Arians, you’re going to be playing with Tom Brady and a whole host of other players that we have,’ and he said that he couldn’t be happier.”
On how tough it will be to have a rookie offensive lineman ready to start as a rookie:
“I don’t want to speak on behalf of Bruce there, that’s a better question for the coaches, but it is something that we’ve talked about. It is going to be a challenge depending on when we can get started but if you can bring in guys, and I’ll just go back to what I said before – and I think that Bruce would echo it – if you bring in guys that are smart, work hard and come from great programs that have had great coaches like he’s had, then you give yourself a better chance than taking guys that are raw, developmental, need more time and have come from programs that have been less successful. That was one of the attractions to Tristan.”
On what areas Wirfs needs to improve on:
“Every player, especially every rookie you take – no matter you if you take them number one or the last pick of the seventh round – they all have strengths and weaknesses. But I would focus on the strengths that I’ve talked about with Tristan. Every player can get better, especially offensive linemen. They can play with better leverage, they can work on their leverage, their hand usage – those types of things. I think one of the things that we saw that we actually liked about him is that there is a lot of room for improvement, which is sometimes with a player that you take – you know he’s got the bend, you know he’s got the athleticism, and if played a little bit more consistently, he’s going to be an even better player. And that can go for just about every offensive linemen that’s been taken so far. I think that I wouldn’t necessarily call them weaknesses, but I would call them things that they can improve. Every player can improve and we got a tremendous, tremendous staff, especially with Bruce being an offensive coach, and Goody (Harold Goodwin) and Joe Gilbert – we feel very confident that we’re going to get the most out of him.”
On confirming that he traded a fourth-round pick to move up, and what it says about their strategy moving forward to get assets
“That was part of it. We got a few back, too. We’re not always going to be looking to give away our picks to move up, sometimes you have to take a look at if you give up a fourth, what are you gonna get in the fourth round? Hopefully, we’re going to get a great player, but it doesn’t always workout that way. But to be able to ensure that we get the player that we all love thus far and what we’ve seen and what he is as a person and a player, I think it’s well worth it. And across the board with Bruce and I and our staff, we felt like this is something that its worth doing. There’s plenty of draft to go. We can maneuver through the board, we can pick up some extra picks as we’ve done in the past, so I’m feeling very good.”
Iowa RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Getty Images
On what he remembers talking about with Wirfs in Indy at the Combine:
“It felt very good, he’s really sharp, comes across very serious. Loves football, wants to be the best, wants to do everything that he can to become a better player. Very, very coachable – didn’t spend a lot of time with him because of the climate that we’re in right now but I know that Goodie and Joe, and our scouts spent a lot of time with him virtually throughout this process. They’ve been telling us about the times that they’ve talked with him – the interviews, watching tape with him, the intelligence and all those things. It feels like we hit a home run right now. But like I said, he hasn’t played a down yet, so we’re ready to get to work with him.”
On what level of confidence Bucs fans should have after this offseason:
“I think I can speak on behalf of Bruce, the moves that we’ve made, they should be very excited. How could you not be excited to have Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to go along with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and O.J. Howard? And the list kind of goes on and on. We’re very excited about the players that we’ve added to this team in the last year and beyond that, too. There should be a lot of excitement in the air, I know that I’m very excited.”
