There are countless ways you can categorize or rank NFL players. Performance, salary, age, future projections and pretty much other criteria you can think of can be (and usually is) used to generate tiers, rankings or just fuel discussion when it comes to analyzing the NFL — or any sports league for that matter.
Recently, CBS Sports chose to create an 'All-Bargain Team' based not just on player performance but contract status as well. The concept is relatively self explanatory, and this hypothetical team was based on Peter Prisco's top-100 NFL players.
For the Buccaneers, only one player made the 'All-Bargain' team, and it was none other than First Team All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs.
Wirfs was ranked 20th on Prisco's list of the league's top-100 players, and here is what this article had to say about his inclusion on this 'All-Bargain' squad.
"This is where we had to get a little picky, because there aren't a ton of above-average left tackles who haven't been rewarded with high-end contracts. Wirfs, however, is certainly under-market for 2025, fresh off his first All-Pro nod at the position. Still just 26, he's now given Pro Bowl-level protection to both Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield in Tampa, successfully transitioning from the right side a few years back."
Although Wirfs' contract for 2025 represents just an $11.5 million cap hit for the Bucs — making him an obvious choice for this team — that's because he's still technically being paid according to his rookie contract. But fear not, Bucs fans, Wirfs will be around much longer than that. Last August, Wirfs signed a 5-year, $140 million contract to remain with the Buccaneers for the next half decade. The $88.24 million guaranteed with that contract represented the highest guarantee for any OT in the league upon signing.
Here's the thing about Tristan Wirfs. He is such a steady, consistent and dominant football player that as crazy as it sounds, he could very well be considered a bargain regardless how much he's being paid each year. He's that good.
