What brings home the somber nature of the NFL is the locker cleanout day that follows the end of the regular season. This year, the Bucs joined 17 other teams in missing the playoffs, only adding to the grim reality that the 50th season of football in Tampa Bay has concluded. On Monday afternoon, the inside of the AdventHealth Training Center was slowly becoming a barren wasteland, with Hefty trash bags filling the floor as players and coaches began to pack and walk out the door.

The coming days, weeks, and months will bring significant change, that much is certain. What kinds of changes have yet to be determined, but Pro Bowl left tackle Tristan Wirfs will look back on the 2025 Bucs season as one that got away, being a tough year for him both physically and mentally.

Injuries Hurt The Bucs, But Tristan Wirfs Credits Guys For Stepping Up

Plenty went wrong for the Bucs as the season progressed as the NFC South slipped from the team’s grasp as they fell from 6-2 heights to end the year at 8-9. Tampa Bay hit the floor instead of reaching the ceiling, and that left Tristan Wirfs surveying the aftermath from a candid perspective. Injuries dampened the team’s chances from the start, but at the highest level, there are no excuses for what happened.

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

“I think [injuries] played a pretty big role when you go back and look at it,” Wirfs said. “Who was out, how much time they were out, but at the same time, 32 teams in this league are dealing with injuries, so I don’t think you can just pinpoint that, either. That’s part of the game; injuries are 100% in this league. It’s something you got to overcome, something you got to battle through. It’s always the next man up mentality, guys stepping up and filling those roles.

“Yeah, I think injuries were tough this year. We had guys step up and step up in big ways, young guys step up in big ways, too. You couldn’t really ask much more of those guys in the situation they were in and the position they were in. I honestly am really proud of all of our guys for the work they put in this year, day in and day out. I love this group of guys.”

The offensive line was arguably hit the hardest, with everyone besides center Graham Barton missing time. Wirfs missed the first three games of the season after a knee procedure last offseason and then went on to miss Week 14 dealing with an oblique injury and in Week 17 with a toe injury.

That did not help the offense get into a rhythm throughout the year, but again, much went into the team’s overall struggles. Reserve guards Michael Jordan and Dan Feeney were not even in the picture to begin the year on practice squads, but they combined to start 19 games with left guard Ben Bredeson and right guard Cody Mauch missing large chunks of the year.

How Will Tristan Wirfs Look Back On The 2025 Bucs Season?

Tristan Wirfs further contextualized the difficultly of looking back on the season when asked about what he will take away from it.

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

“It was tough, mentally and physically, for a lot of people,” Wirfs said. “Didn’t start out how I wanted it, wasn’t on my bingo card. I would just say tough – mentally and physically draining. That’s part of the business, cost of doing business in this league. As shitty as it was, I wouldn’t – I mean, I’d trade it for a Super Bowl, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love coming here, I love coming to the building every day. I love my teammates; I love my coaches. As tough and as hard as it was, I’d do it all again.”

Wirfs would do it all again, but the bitter truth is that meant cleaning out his locker next to everyone else with the offseason getting underway.

“Today is always a tough day, every year,” Wirfs added. “I mean, you see all the [garbage] bags and stuff, guys cleaning out their locker. There’s nothing really set in stone right now, but you know it’s coming. It’s going to be a different room next year; it’s going to be a different locker room. You just got to be thankful for your time with everybody, the turnover happens all the time in this league. Just be thankful for your time, thankful for your memories with all your boys.”

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

When it comes to what remains, the large question is whether or not head coach Todd Bowles sticks around. After sharing his thoughts before Week 18, Wirfs clarified that he does not care about the outside noise about Bowles.

His focus, his mission, is building for next season.

“I really don’t care about it – people sitting at home talking about it,” Wirfs said. “We know what we have in this building. If something happens, something happens. If something doesn’t, it doesn’t. The season is coming regardless, I know we’re all going to be ready.”