Buccaneers Hall of Fame Watch 2025

The NFL’s Hall of Fame Game is Thursday. This is when the NFL world gathers in Canton Ohio to honor this year’s Hall of Fame class and kick off the preseason. It’s an exciting time to recognize the greatness of the past as well as look forward to the future.

This event gets me thinking about the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers who could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. They have several candidates who I expect to get serious consideration. However, some still have work to do to be worthy of this incredible honor.

Here is my Buccaneers Hall of Fame watch for 2025

Mike Evans

If Mike Evans retired today he would probably already be a Hall of Famer. He’s ranked 24th all time in receiving yards and 9th all time in receiving touchdowns. He’s one of the great receivers of his time.

However, boosting the resume certainly couldn’t hurt. He’s six touchdown catches away from tying Tony Gonzalez for 8th all time, eleven from tying Antonio Gates for 7th and 16 from tying Larry Fitzgerald for 6th.

He would also pass several big names in yardage this year. With exactly 1,000 receiving yards, which he has had in every season of his career, Evans would move into 17th all time in receiving yards. And with just 1,020 yards he would pass Julio Jones to move into 16th place on the all time list. Finally with just over 1,200 yards, which he was on pace for last year before his injury, he could move up to 12th place all time this year.

Lavonte David

Passed on his production, Lavonte David should be a no doubt Hall of Famer. However, his lack of pro bowl and all pro honors could hurt his case. This places that much more importance on his on field stats.

David is just 25 solo tackles away from moving into 4th place all time and he’s 133 total tackles from moving into 6th place all time on that list. Even more impressive, he’s eight tackles for loss away from passing Aaron Donald to move into 4th all time in this particular stat which has been tracked since 1999. David is one of just three off ball linebackers to be in the top 30.

One category where David can continue to help himself is forced fumbles. He is currently tied for 27th all time with Leonard Little and Cornelius Bennett. If he can log just three forced fumbles this year then David would pass the likes of Jared Allen, Charles Woodson and Reggie White to move into a tie for 18th all time.

Tristan Wirfs

The unexpected knee surgery for Tristan Wirfs this offseason hurts both the Bucs and Wirfs individual season. If he misses a month of the season then it will be difficult to be named first team all pro or even to the pro bowl. And those aren’t the only honors he could miss out on.

The NFL has introduced a new award for offensive lineman this year called protector of the year. Wirfs could have very well been the favorite to win this award after allowing the fewest pressures and sacks in the NFL last year. Now that becomes a long shot.

However, as long as Wirfs returns healthy and plays like his normal self then he should be fine. Even if it’s just 12 or 13 games, another year of no sacks and minimal pressures will only continue to solidify him as the best offensive tackle in the NFL.

Vita Vea

It’s a massive long shot for any defensive tackle to make the hall of fame, especially a nose tackle. Eating up double teams and being the foundation of great run defense just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. So Vita Vea will have to continue to shine in other ways.

Vea currently has 30.5 career sacks. That puts him about 15.0 sacks short of cracking the top 250 all time. Not exactly an impressive ranking in terms of sacks. 

However, comparing him to other nose tackles is a more fair comparison. Staying ahead of the other great nose tackle of this decade, Dexter Lawrence with 30.0 sacks will be key to his hall of fame chances. He will need to pass other great nose tackles who could rush the passer like Haloti Ngata (32.5 career sacks).

Antoine Winfield Jr

After an injury plagued last season, Antoine Winfield Jr will be looking to bounce back and return to his all pro form. He injured his foot in the first game of the season and sustained a different injury not long after he returned from that. He missed eight games total and never really looked like himself when he was out there.

Winfield isn’t really chasing any specific stats. Of course his tackle numbers will matter as well as the turnovers he forces. He will want to be around 100 tackles and 8 turnovers give or take.

However, it will be his overall play on the field that matters most. Winfield was the best safety in the NFL in 2023. Getting back to that form and stacking pro bowl and all pro seasons is what he needs to do to be on a hall of fame track.

Honorable Mentions 

It’s too early to put Calijah Kancey in any hall of fame conversations, but he has a chance to be on that track. He needs to stay healthy and continue to be a dominant force getting into the backfield. Taking the next step to getting 10+ sacks and being an all pro caliber player is what I’m expecting from him.

If it was too early to talk about Kancey in the hall of fame, then it’s way too early to talk about Bucky Irving. However, after 1500 total yards as a rookie he’s off to a promising start. Now as the full time starter he’ll need to be even more productive.