Buccaneers Make Wirfs Highest-Paid OT – It was only a matter of time. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made left tackle Tristan Wirfs the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history Thursday morning by signing him to a contract extension.
According to ESPN’s senior NFL insider Adam Schefter, Wirfs and the Buccaneers agreed to an enormous five-year, $140.63 million extension with a remarkable $88.24 million in guaranteed money. Wirfs had been scheduled to play on the final year of his rookie deal in 2024, but he is now committed to the franchise through the 2029 campaign.
Schefter noted that the $28.1 million average annual value of Wirfs’ new deal barely edged out the $28 million annual salary that Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell received on his extension in April as the highest among NFL offensive linemen.
Wirfs’ long-term future with the team was murky to say the least this offseason. In May, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported he did not attend the start of voluntary organized team activities because he was “seeking a long-term contract and does not want to risk injury.”
At the time, Wirfs reportedly believed “the sides have not made enough progress on a deal.”
Tampa Bay picked up his fifth-year option for the 2024 campaign ahead of the 2023 season, and that option was set to pay him $18.2 million fully guaranteed. However, that did not afford Wirfs the long-term security this contract extension most certainly does.
While it took longer than expected, it is not surprising to anyone around the NFL community that the Buccaneers kept Wirfs, especially considering Fowler noted general manager Jason Licht said in May, the goal was to come to terms on a long-term deal.
“It was a big puzzle this year of how to fit it all in,” Licht said. “Hopefully we can finish this off.”
The timing is significant, as the Lions made Sewell the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history ahead of the 2024 season with a four-year, $112 million extension.
Wirfs looked at that as something of a blueprint and a comparison point when combing over his own contract situation, which has now been rectified.
This is great news from the Tampa Bay’s side of things as well, because he has greatly outperformed and has more than lived up to expectations that were heaped upon him when the NFC South team selected him with the No. 13 overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft out of the University of Iowa.
Wirfs began his career at the right tackle position and helped lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in his rookie season against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was also a First-Team All-Pro selection in his second year and a Second-Team selection in year three.
He then made the difficult switched from right tackle to left tackle for the 2023 campaign and did not miss a beat, earning his third straight Pro Bowl nod while appearing in all 17 games.
The Buccaneers did not want to take any chances and let someone that valuable who has started his career off like that go into free agency, given the fact that he is just 25 years old. They reacted accordingly with this move.
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Jets’ Cohen Retires – Tarik Cohen is no longer fat and has worked his way back into shape. He is also no longer pursuing an NFL career.
The former Pro Bowl return man told the New York Jets he is retiring from football, The Associated Press confirmed. Cohen signed with the Jets in the offseason after spending all of last season on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He said to reporters on Tuesday that his comeback got underway, full force after he saw an unflattering picture of himself, admitting, “I let myself get fat.”
The 29-year-old noted that he “definitely feels all the way back” after a rash of injuries stifled his career. Just two days later, he is hanging up the cleats.
A fourth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2017 out of North Carolina A&T State University, Cohen’s career seemed to be on an upward trajectory. He was electrifying in the return game, resembling Hall of Famer Devin Hester, making the Pro Bowl in 2018, and took on pass-catching duties out of the backfield. Given the abundance of receiving backs in today’s NFL, Cohen looked like he would have a long, promising future.
Then, after signing a three-year extension in the Windy City with the Bears, disaster struck.
In Week 3, 2020, Cohen was hit low on a fair catch punt, blowing out his knee and tearing his ACL and MCL and fracturing his tibial plateau. He would never play another regular season down of football.
Cohen spent the 2021 season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. In 2022, the Bears made the difficult business decision to release him. After an Achilles tear while training, he was medically cleared to return in 2023. He eventually landed on the Carolina Panthers practice squad, where a hamstring injury all but ended any real possibility to be elevated to the active roster. Carolina released him in May 2024. Shortly after that, he signed with the Jets.
The former running back was an underdog to make the 53-man roster out of camp, but the brand-new kick return rules cracked opened the door for the shifty back to prove he still had a place in the league. Indications from Jets camp were that Cohen looked shifty, and coach Robert Saleh said it looked like the back “got his juice back.”
In the end, one of the most exciting return men in the NFL for three seasons decided to retire and walk away into the sunset on his own and not be forced out. After all the drama, adversity and harm Cohen battled through, he earned that right.
