The Tampa Bay Buccaneers plan to activate wide receiver Chris Godwin and left tackle Tristan Wirfs off the active/physically unable to perform list and place both on the 53-man roster to start the season, coach Todd Bowles said Thursday.
While that’s positive news for both players, Bowles was quick to temper the excitement.
“(Godwin’s) got to get in football shape and everything else, so I wouldn’t expect him to play early on,” Bowles said. “… He’s been out a long time, he’s got to get in football shape. Tristan, the same way. But they’ll be off and we’ll see how it goes going forward.”
Godwin, 29, is coming back from a fractured ankle sustained in Tampa Bay’s Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens last season. He wrapped up 2024 with 50 receptions for 576 yards and five touchdowns and signed a three-year, $66 million contract to return to Tampa Bay this offseason.
Across 111 career games with the Bucs, Godwin has racked up 579 catches for 7,266 yards and 39 TDs, along with two rushing scores. He made the Pro Bowl in 2019.
Wirfs, 26, also is expected to miss the start of the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last month.
A four-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time first-team All-Pro, Wirfs started 16 games in 2024 and has started all 79 of his games since Tampa Bay drafted him 13th overall in 2020. Wirfs signed a five-year, $140.6 million extension last August.
–Field Level Media
