If success in the NFL really does start up, then the 2024 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in good shape, with all-star-caliber performers on both sides of the trenches.
The rosters for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games were revealed on Thursday morning and both defensive lineman Vita Vea and tackle Tristan Wirfs will be representing the Buccaneers. In addition, quarterback Baker Mayfield and kicker Chase McLaughlin were named first alternates, which means they would be added to the roster if any players selected for the Games at their position are unable to participate.
Linebacker Lavonte David and wide receiver Mike Evans are also Pro Bowl alternates.
Both Vea and Wirfs were in the top five among NFC players in fan voting at their respective positions, but that's not the entirety of the selection process. Each team's players also submit a collective ballot, as does each head coach in the league. The three collective ballots are then combined to produce the final results.
This is the second Pro Bowl selection for Vea, who also went after the 2021 season. Wirfs has now been selected in four straight seasons; his only season without that honor was his 2020 rookie campaign, which ended in an even bigger prize, a Super Bowl victory over Kansas City and the championship ring that comes with it.
Vea has racked up 6.0 sacks and 12 quarterback pressures while also being the driving force behind the Buccaneers' fifth-ranked rush defense, which recently tied an NFL record by holding three straight opponents under 40 yards on the ground. Vea has also contributed 39 tackles, nine of them for a loss, and one pass defensed. Using position designations based on StatsPass records, Vea leads all NFL nose tackles in sacks.
Wirfs has played in and started 15 games this season, missing one due to a knee injury. He has been a key cog in a Tampa Bay offense that ranks fourth in points per game (29.7), third in net yards per game (399.9), fourth in rushing yards per game (147.3), third in yards per carry (5.21), third in passing yards per game (252.6), second in first downs per game(23.4) and tied for first in third-down conversion rate (50.0%). According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he has allowed a pressure rate of just 4.3%, the lowest among all NFL left tackles with at least 200 pass blocking snaps. Four times this season, including last week in a blowout win over Carolina, Wirfs has taken at least 25 pass blocking snaps and not allowed a single pressure.
Wirfs' four Pro Bowl invitations are tied with tight end Jimmie Giles for third most by an offensive player in franchise history, with only fullback Mike Alstott (six) and Evans (five). They are the most ever by a Tampa Bay offensive lineman, surpassing center Tony Mayberry, who had three.
If Mayfield is eventually added to the Pro Bowl Games roster, it would be his second selection, both since he joined the Buccaneers last season. He was named the Offensive MVP of the Games after winning the precision passing contest for the NFL. McLaughlin is looking for his first Pro Bowl selection, while David has been selected one time previously, in 2015. Washington's Jayden Daniels, Minnesota's Sam Darnold and Detroit's Jared Goff were the initial Pro Bowl selections at quarterback; the Cowboys' Brandon Aubrey was the choice at kicker.
The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will be conducted between January 30 and February 2 in Orlando, with Eli Manning coaching the NFC squad and Peyton Manning guiding the AFC team. For the third year in a row, the Games will be comprised of an array of skills competitions leading up to a non-contact flag football game.
