Tristan Wirfs has been one of the Bucs’ top players in each of his three NFL seasons. He’s been to two Pro Bowls and earned one All-Pro selection already, and it’s no surprise at all that Tampa Bay will be picking up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Pewter Report broke that news Friday morning.

With as great as Wirfs has been on the field, he’s about to take on a larger role in the locker room and on the sidelines.

With longtime left tackle Donovan Smith released this offseason and veteran guard Ali Marpet retiring last offseason, there’s a leadership void along the Bucs’ offensive line. Veteran center Ryan Jensen is a mainstay in terms of the team’s “leadership board,” if you will. But now, Tristan Wirfs is set to join him as a veteran voice in that room.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs and C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay’s offensive line is in a state of transition this offseason. Smith is gone, as is right guard Shaq Mason, who the Bucs traded to the Texans this offseason. The only two players set in stone to start are Jensen and Wirfs. And depending on what the team does in next weekend’s draft, Wirfs could be switching to the other side of the line to fill Smith’s vacated left tackle role.

One of the team’s tackle positions presumes to be occupied by a rookie. The two guard positions, on the other hand, will be decided between Nick Leverett, Luke Goedeke, Aaron Stinnie and potentially another rookie. That’s not a group that has an overwhelming wealth of starting experience.

So, once the rest of the line falls into place, it’ll be up to Ryan Jensen and Tristan Wirfs to lead them.

Jensen is used to being a veteran and leading with his fierce style of play. And as of late, Wirfs sure sounds ready to step up into a bigger leadership role. That was especially clear during his press conference last Monday. When asked about taking ownership of the Bucs’ offensive line, he said he was “all for it.”

“I don’t want to say, ‘Take over the room,’ that’s not the right phrasing, but I want to be somebody that the guys can turn to or is going to be the voice of the offensive line,” Wirfs said. “[Somebody] that’s going to stand up for us when need be and kind of take the brunt of things if things aren’t going so hot. I think I’m more than ready to do that. It kind of started last year and has been snowballing into where we are now. Yeah, I’m all for it. ”

Tristan Wirfs Had Plenty To Say About Bucs’ Culture This Week

Bucs OT Tristan Wirfs Photo By: USA Today

Later in Monday’s press conference, Tristan Wirfs’ leadership qualities began to show quite evidently. Strong leaders know that when they see something, they have to say something. And it seems like the 24-year-old is doing just that as far as the Bucs’ culture is concerned.

Asked about whether or not Tampa Bay can carry on the winning culture and mentality it developed over the last three years with quarterback Tom Brady, Wirfs had a revealing response – one befitting of a good team leader.

“I feel like winning the Super Bowl was kind of like a blessing and a curse at the same time,” Wirfs said. “I feel like it united some groups of people or some guys and it kind of made individuals. I feel like it does that everywhere, you know. We want everyone to be together.

“And everyone to be like ‘Yeah, we’ve done this. We did that with this group of people in this year. That was in the past, we’re here now, but we know what it takes.’ For us to get everyone on that same page of knowing what it takes to get that done but not letting there be any individuals… Everyone with one goal, one collective in mind, all working for the same thing.”

This isn’t the first time someone has mentioned the Super Bowl-winning season having a seemingly negative impact on the team’s locker room. After a Week 6 loss to the Steelers last season, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – who was the defensive coordinator when Tampa Bay won that Lombardi Trophy – alluded to individuals “living off the Super Bowl.” 

“I think guys that are living off the Super Bowl are living in fantasy land,” Bowles said after the loss. “You’ve got to get your hands dirty and go to work like everybody else. We’ve been working hard, and we have to work harder. Nobody is going to give us anything or feel sorry [for us]. We have to go back as coaches, as players, and the time for talking is over. You’ve either got to put up or shut up.”

Bowles later went back on that statement, though his message was already clear enough. Even in his attempt to clarify, he continued to push that idea of players and coaches needing to go out and earn it on the field.

“I didn’t say we were,” he said. “I’m just saying, you get patted on the back so much, you got to relive … Every year and every week, you’ve got to go out there and earn your pay and earn your keep. If you don’t live like that, it’s gonna be a result like today.”

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

Tampa Bay won the NFC South for a second consecutive time last season, but the team finished 8-9 and was bounced from the playoffs in a blowout loss on its home field. Bowles knows 2022 wasn’t good enough for the Bucs. Tristan Wirfs does too, and he further explained on Monday that the team needs to establish a good culture in 2023 and let it spread throughout the locker room to create a sense of responsibility.

“If you want to say we have a chip or if people want to think [we] have a chip on our shoulder then that’s fine, [but] that’s not how I think of it. Yeah, we won the [NFC] South but there wasn’t much to it really. So, I think what we’re going to do this year is we’re going to establish a good culture and kind of let that breed itself. We want it to kind of affect the whole team and everyone will be on the same page and us to be a unit.

“We have got a new thing up on the board it says, ‘Attitude breeds responsibility.’ I think that kind of speaks for itself. Responsibility is not just going to come, you guys have heard me say it so many times, there are two things you can control, attitude and effort. I’ve been saying it for three years, so I think if everyone kind of buys into that it’s going to be really good.”

That sure sounds like a guy who is ready to own his leadership role – and potentially wear a “C” on his chest this fall.