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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: If the Tristan Wirfs holdout lasts until Week 1 who do you see starting at left tackle and how do you expect them to hold up against the Commanders D-line?

Bucs TE Ko Kieft and LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I would be absolutely shocked if Tristan Wirfs’ holdout lasts until Week 1 of the regular season. I think the Bucs and Wirfs will come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension before the start of the season – and hopefully before training camp gets under way. Yet keep in mind that Wirfs is under contract for the 2024 season by Tampa Bay picking up his fifth-year option.

The Bucs do not want a Wirfs holdout being the storyline of training camp. So far, it has not gotten contentious. While Wirfs has stayed off the field during OTAs and the mandatory mini-camp, he has spent the entire offseason working out at the team facility. Both he and the team want to arrive at a very happy ending very soon in the form of a well-deserved extension. I think if the holdout continues past the first week of training camp, it could strain relations a bit, especially given the fact that the team and Wirfs were closing in on a new deal before Lions All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell was made the highest-paid offensive lineman in football.

But let’s suppose the holdout does last until Week 1 and Wirfs does not play in the season opener against Washington. Swing tackle Justin Skule has taken all of the starting left tackle reps in the OTAs and mini-camp during Wirfs’ absence and would likely get the start in Wirfs’ place.

While Skule certainly isn’t in Wirfs’ class – or even Luke Goedeke’s class – he is an upgrade over some of the swing tackles the Bucs have had in the past, such as Joe Haeg and Josh Wells. It would be far from ideal to have Wirfs sitting out the start of the season as a holdout and to have Skule in the starting lineup.

The Commanders’ defensive ends – Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. – aren’t as formidable as defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. But they could certainly give the Bucs fits without Wirfs manning the left tackle position.

QUESTION: Will Rachaad White rush for 1,000 yards this season? Or will others step up to run the rock?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Rachaad White had 279 carries last year while the next most carries by a running back was 49 carries by backup Chase Edmonds. To say that White was a workhorse last year is an understatement. He not only shouldered the load at running back last year, White was Tampa Bay’s running game last year.

The Bucs expect to have a real credible option to spell White this season with rookie Bucky Irving, the team’s fourth-round pick. Irving had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons at Oregon, and while he’s smaller at 5-foot-9, 192 pounds, he’s tough for his size and adept at breaking tackles and making defenders miss.

Edmonds will likely be the No. 3 running back this year – rather than the No. 2 back. His veteran presence is important to the team and the running back room, but the Bucs will be better served with some younger, fresher legs running the ball when White needs a breather.

White just missed out on a 1,000-yard season last year, rushing for 990 yards and falling 10 yards short. Even with fewer carries, I think White will have the chance to top 1,000 yards as he should be a more efficient runner with a better rushing average in 2024. White averaged 3.6 yards per carry last year, but even with fewer carries and a better average closer to 4.0 yards per carry, he should top 1,000 yards this year. The real question will be how many yards Irving will get – and how many carries.

QUESTION: With all these new stadiums, what can the Glazer family do to keep up? More renovations to Raymond James Stadium seems like a bad investment.

Raymond James Stadium – Photo by: PR

ANSWER: Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer was asked about possible renovations to Raymond James Stadium at the NFL Annual Meeting in Orlando back in March and his remarks were rather generic in nature.

“We did a bunch of improvements about seven or eight years ago and we’re always – like all teams – looking at upgrading and improving and we’ll continue to do that,” Glazer said. “That’s something we’re always looking at and making sure we keep the fan experience up to date. Things have changed over the years. So we’re always doing that and all of the teams are doing that and there’s an emphasis on that.”

Several teams have announced plans for renovated stadiums, including Jacksonville within the state and Carolina within the NFC South division. Kansas City is entertaining the idea of relocating from Missouri to Kansas to possibly move into a brand new stadium as Arrowhead Stadium is now 51 years old.

When asked if Raymond James Stadium, which opened in 1998, needs to be replaced, Glazer was quick to scuttle any talk of that. Instead, there could be future renovations, but nothing the Glazers are ready to reveal.

“That’s not something (building a new stadium) … we’re looking at what we have, and how we can improve the experience,” Glazer said.

The Glazers do want to bring another Super Bowl back to Tampa, especially after Super Bowl LV took place in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic impact to the area was muted as a result. And so was the fan experience. The Bucs beat the Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV, but there were only 24,835 in attendance due to social distancing rules at the time.

“The NFL I’m sure will get back to Tampa at some point,” Glazer said. “There are a lot of cities in line to get Super Bowls. Historically, Tampa has always been a great city for Super Bowls and will always keep coming back. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. We just have to get all the other cities their turn and I’m sure that day will come.”

QUESTION: I know there are concerns about Connor Williams as far as health and having to potentially re-sign him if he signs a cheap, one-year deal. But the Bucs can’t possibly think Ben Bredeson and Sua Opeta are better options than him, right?

Free agent Center Connor Williams – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: So far, Connor Williams has been deemed to be healthy by the start of training camp by his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, but he has yet to take a physical or have his surgically-repaired knee examined by NFL team doctors. Williams is a free agent and could’ve cashed in big time in March had he been healthy.

But the fact that he had serious knee injury late in the 2023 season and the fact that Williams was unsure if he was going to be healthy enough to play in the 2024 season gave teams pause about signing him. No team was ready to sink a huge contract into Williams given the uncertainty about his recovery from knee surgery.

So now he is in the unenviable position of possibly having to take a far cheaper one-year, prove-it deal and hope that he can not only stay healthy in 2024 but also regain his pre-injury form as one of the best interior offensive linemen in football. If I’m Williams and I’m not near 100 percent, I would rather sit out the 2024 season and get completely healthy. Then enter free agency again in 2025 with a much better chance of getting a lucrative, multi-year contract.

There’s a lot of risk in playing on a cheap, one-year deal. If Williams looks like a shell of his former self or can’t stay healthy, he’ll be lucky to get another cheap, one-year, prove-it deal in 2025 to prove that the 2024 season was a fluke.

When healthy, there is no doubt that Williams is an improvement and an upgrade over Ben Bredeson and Sua Opeta. But the Bucs are likely gun-shy about offensive linemen coming off serious knee injuries after what happened with Ryan Jensen.