TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn’t afford to wait — not when it came to protecting their soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback Tom Brady.
So when the 2020 NFL draft‘s group of four top offensive tackles — Tristan Wirfs, Andrew Thomas, Jedrick Wills Jr. and and Mekhi Becton — was whittled to just one, and with the San Francisco 49ers hinting at the need for a Joe Staley replacement, the Bucs jumped at the opportunity to move.
So instead of waiting at No. 14, they traded with the 49ers to move into the 13th overall spot to select Wirfs out of Iowa.
When asked on ESPN’s telecast what he wanted Brady to know, Wirfs said, “I’m just ready to go, I’m looking forward to it.”
It was the first trade in the 2020 NFL draft, and the first time since 2015 that no team traded its draft slot in the top 10 picks.
The Bucs gave up a fourth-round pick to move up, with the Niners getting the Bucs’ picks at Nos. 14 and 117, in exchange for the No. 13 and Tampa Bay’s last seventh-round pick, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
General manager Jason Licht said they were “thrilled to death” with the selection and said they had been talking to the 49ers for several days before making the pick.
Wirfs turned heads at the NFL combine when went 36.5 inches in the vertical jump, better than many skill-position players, and he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.85 seconds — the fastest time by a 320-pound-plus player since at least 2006.
Licht joked, “My 6-year-old son Theo, the first thing he asks me is, ‘Is he faster than Devin White?”
