After waiting until well into the 2023 season to announce their captains, the Bucs got out in front of it this year and have settled on their group of leaders for 2024.

The team announced Thursday morning that it’ll be wide receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield and left tackle Tristan Wirfs donning the captain patches on the offense while linebacker Lavonte David, defensive lineman Vita Vea and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. will wear them for the defense.

Leading the Krewe.

Our 2024 captains 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tfI5YpYXuB

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) September 5, 2024

Bucs To Be Led By A Pair Of Team Legends And Longtime Captains

Bucs ILB Lavonte David and WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

There weren’t really any surprises when the Bucs announced their 2024 captains Thursday morning. But two of the leaders voted on by the team were the furthest thing from surprises, as Mike Evans and Lavonte David will once again where the “C” on their jerseys this season. Given both players are franchise icons and longtime captains, them being voted as captains was a foregone conclusion as soon as they re-signed with Tampa Bay this offseason.

Evans is entering his 11th season with the Bucs and was voted a captain for the eighth consecutive year. The veteran receiver has been the model of consistency on and off the field for Tampa Bay ever since being drafted in 2014, and his selfless approach and winning mentality have earned him the admiration and respect of teammates, coaches and fans for over a decade.

The only captain with a longer tenure than Evans is, of course, David. Entering his 13th season, he was selected as a team captain for the 11th season in a row. He first earned the honor of being named a captain in 2014 and has received it every year since. Earlier this summer, the 34-year-old linebacker spoke about his growth as a leader.

“I’m getting better and better,” David said. “Sometimes I need to be more vocal than I want to. Sometimes I just kind of take a seat when I need to. One thing about me is I’m gonna speak when I need to speak, when it’s something that needs to be said, when guys don’t get it, when stuff’s not going right. I kind of fit that profile. That’s the type captain I am. When guys need advice, I’m kind of one of the first people they come to. Or if I see a guy not doing something right… Just being across the league, you kind of learn a lot of things.

“If a guy’s not doing something right and you’ve got the coaches on them all the time, that’s a sign. Like, ‘Hey, man, come on. You’ve got to pick it up, you ain’t gonna be here for long if you keep doing that.’ I never want to be a guy who just lets a guy go on… You work too hard to get to this point. So you want to take advantage of this opportunity when you get here. So I definitely try to be that big brother type of captain.”

Bucs’ Captains Rounded Out By Younger Veterans

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mike Evans and Lavonte David are two of just three players on the Bucs roster over the age of 30, so it’s no surprise either that the rest of the team’s 2024 captains are veteran players on the slightly younger side. Baker Mayfield, 29, was voted as one of Tampa Bay’s captains for the second straight season after re-signing on a new three-year deal worth $100 million this offseason.

Head coach Todd Bowles had the team wait on selecting captains last year so that they could see leaders emerge, and Mayfield was one of them after beating out Kyle Trask for the starting quarterback job. Now, Mayfield is a Buccaneer captain for the second time after being one for a season in Cleveland and another in Carolina prior to joining Tampa Bay last offseason.

Vea, another 29-year-old, will be a captain for the third consecutive season. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in 2018 and has steadily risen to the level of being one of the veteran leaders on the Buccaneer defense. With a young front seven that includes second-year players in Calijah Kancey, Yaya Diaby, Markees Watts and Jose Ramirez as well as a rookie in Chris Braswell, Vea (as well as 33-year-old Will Gholston) is one of the few in the group with a great deal of experience.

And finally, a pair of current (and future) franchise cornerstones were voted as team captains for the second straight campaign. Tristan Wirfs, who was a first-time captain in 2023, will wear the “C” on his chest once again.

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The 25-year-old three-time Pro Bowler signed a massive contract extension with the Bucs this offseason and will be a mainstay on the team’s offensive line for years to come. He’s also grown into quite the leader, and it’s fair to expect that he’ll become another player whose captainship is a constant year after year going forward.

All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who was drafted one round after Wirfs in 2020, will also be a second-time captain in 2024. Coming off a phenomenal season in which he was a Pro Bowl snub but a first-team All-Pro selection, Winfield is someone who also grew into his leadership role even more in 2023. He wasn’t afraid to speak up in the locker room, and after he also signed a long-term contract extension this offseason, he’s another one the Bucs can count on to lead for years to come.

Perhaps the only surprise with the Bucs’ captains this year is that they went with six, leaving wide receiver Chris Godwin without a “C” in a contract year. While the team also didn’t have a special teams captain in 2023, they did have Godwin and linebacker Devin White with the seventh and eighth captain roles. There seemed to be a few candidates to replace White as a captain this year in the event that the team stuck with eight, but that didn’t come to pass.

Nonetheless, led by a couple of veterans in Evans and David as well as some younger captains, Tampa Bay’s locker room leadership should be in a good place as the 2024 Bucs look to make some noise in 2024.

Bucs captains LB Lavonte David, WR Mike Evans, QB Baker Mayfield, S Antoine Winfield Jr., DT Vita Vea and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photos by: Cliff Welch/PR