Tristan Wirfs calls out those who think Buccaneers are tanking
Add Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs to the list of Tampa Bay Buccaneers players who have heard and responded to people doubting the team will compete this season now that quarterback Tom Brady is retired for good.
"Yeah, screw 'em," Wirfs said Wednesday about the critics, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website.
As far back as February before it was known that free-agent signing Baker Mayfield would serve as Tampa Bay's Week 1 replacement for Brady over 2021 second-round draft pick Kyle Trask, outlets such as Pro Football Talk claimed the Buccaneers would embrace a so-called "soft tank" for the 2023 season in part so that they potentially could "earn" the right to draft quarterback Caleb Williams of the USC Trojans next spring.
Earlier this summer, Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis vowed that "anybody who feels we’ve lost Tom — and lost something — is going to be in for a rude awakening" this fall.
More recently, Tampa Bay wide receiver Chris Godwin acknowledged that "everybody outside of the building expects us to be one of the worst teams in the league."
So why do Wirfs, Davis, Godwin and others believe the Buccaneers can shock the NFL world?
"Just the guys in here that we have," Wirfs explained, according to Kyle Burger of Tampa television station WFTS. "I know how hard everyone has worked, all the guys this offseason putting in work together. I love everyone in this locker room. We all have each other’s back."
As of late Wednesday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Buccaneers as the main underdogs at +1000 odds to claim the division title this season. That same website had the Minnesota Vikings as the favorites (-238, -6) to defeat Tampa Bay in Sunday's regular-season opener held at Minnesota's U.S. Bank Stadium.
Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean enjoys hearing and seeing those predictions.
"I like it better when you get doubted," Dean said Wednesday. "It puts a chip on your shoulder."
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