These could end up being pretty desperate times for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — for the first time in 5 years they’re entering training camp without one of the bedrocks of their roster with offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Wirfs, who topped ESPN’s Top 10 position rankings, could be missing for the first month of the regular season after arthroscopic knee surgery on July 8.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine thinks the Buccaneers should make a move to bring in a free agent offensive tackle — specifically veteran George Fant — to try and pick up the slack in Wirfs’ absence.
Right now, veteran Charlie Heck is on track to start in place of Wirfs for however long is needed. The Buccaneers signed Heck to a 1-year, $1.57 million contract on March 13.
“It didn’t seem like a significant signing then, but he could wind up playing a huge role early in the season,” Ballentine wrote on July 15. ” … Heck will have training camp to show he can step in like he was paid to do in March. If he struggles, then there are a few notable veterans available on the free-agent market. DJ Humphries or George Fant could be veterans to keep an eye on. They aren’t optimal at this point, but the Bucs will need to have an answer.”
The Buccaneers just missed out on Humphries, who signed a 1-year, $2.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams on June 12.
Fant was a full time starter for the Houston Texans in 2023 and started 2 games for the Seattle Seahawks in 2024.
Fant Went From Undrafted To Lengthy NFL Career
Fant, 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds, had a highly unusual path to the NFL.
He was a star basketball player at Western Kentucky for 4 seasons, where he was a 2-time All-Sun Belt Conference pick and earned All-Conference USA honors as a senior when he was second in the league with 12 double-doubles and averaged 13.8 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Fant chose trying football over playing professional basketball overseas and put on 20 pounds to play tight end for WKU for one season before shooting up to 296 pounds for Pro Day, where he worked out for pro teams on both the offensive and defensive lines.
The Seahawks signed Fant as an undrafted free agent and made the 53-man roster out of training camp as backup left offensive tackle. Fant starter 24 games over 3 seasons, including 10 as a rookie in 2016, before he signed a 3-year, $27.3 million free agent contract with the New York Jets in March 2020.
Fant played 3 seasons for the Jets, one for the Texans and returned to the Seahawks for one season. Through his first 8 NFL seasons, he has approximately $41.5 million in career earnings.
Buccaneers Offense Must Survive Without Wirfs
It’s not a stretch to say the Buccaneers offense is going to have to figure out a way to stay afloat without Wirfs, a once-in-a-generation talent who has been a starter since the moment he was drafted in the first round out of Iowa in 2020.
Since then, Wirfs has helped lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win, 3-time NFL All-Pro and 4-time Pro Bowler.
He’s also the first player in NFL history to earn NFL All-Pro honors at both offensive tackle spots and the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history with a 5-year, $140.6 million contract extension signed in August 2024.
