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Tom Brady's great week gets better as Buccaneers take OT Tristan Wirfs in NFL draft first round

Pretty much every week is a good week in the life of Tom Brady. At least, compared to most of the rest of us.

Worst case: He just heads back to his 30,000-square-foot, waterfront home with his supermodel wife and three loving children and counts his Super Bowl rings.

Even by Brady Dream Life Standards, however, this has been a strong work week so far for TB12.

He got his old friend, Rob Gronkowski, to first unretire and then orchestrate a trade from the New England Patriots to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady’s new team.

He worked out in a nearby park in violation of social-distancing rules … and didn’t even get fined.

While trying to pick something up at the home of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, he mistakenly walked into the wrong house — one of Leftwich’s neighbors — and didn’t even get yelled at, let alone a gun pointed at him, by the homeowner.

“Trespassing on parks, breaking and entering … just making myself at home in Tompa Bay,” Brady tweeted.

His town. Or world.

Then came Thursday night, when a confluence of factors saw a man mountain, offensive tackle out of Iowa named Tristan Wirfs slip into the middle of the first round. Plenty of talent evaluators thought he might be the first tackle drafted, somewhere in the top 10.

Instead, he was sitting there at No. 13, allowing Tampa to trade up one spot with San Francisco and draft Wirfs to protect Brady’s blindside.

How destined was this? In a video filmed earlier Thursday, Wirfs’ mother back in Mount Vernon, Iowa, was wearing a T-shirt with Brady’s signature phrase: #LFG.

LFG, indeed.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected former Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected former Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

Are the Buccaneers Super Bowl contenders? It’s not out of the question now, even in a crowded NFC.

Tampa went 7-9 last season. Six of those losses were by a touchdown or less. A key issue: Quarterback Jameis Winston threw a whopping 30 interceptions, including seven that were returned for a touchdown.

Just having a QB who doesn’t throw it so often to the other team should make a huge impact. (Brady has thrown 29 picks, cumulatively, over the past four seasons.) New Orleans still looms in the NFC South, but that division is very much up for grabs as Brady 2.0 gears up.

At first, Brady heading to Tampa looked like a fun move. Nice weather. Less pressure. Lots of talent to throw the ball to.

Now, it might be a whole lot more.

He’ll work with an array of weapons that were lacking of late in Foxborough. That includes Mike Evans, 6-foot-5 and just 26 years old coming off a 1,157-yard, eight-touchdown season and Chris Godwin, 24, who had 1,333 yards and nine TDs. There were two good tight ends — Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard — even before Gronk showed up. Ronald Jones is a multipurpose back who should be dangerous.

It’s an embarrassment of offensive riches — and the Gronk signing means one of the tight ends (most likely Howard) could still be traded for draft picks or a player at a different position.

The one weakness? Offensive line, an especially pressing concern when trying to protect a soon-to-be 43-year-old.

And so here comes Wirfs to help shore that up. He’s a ferocious athlete, a former high school Iowa state champion wrestler who also holds power-lifting records for the Hawkeyes. Rookies are rookies, but talent is talent, and there is little question Wirfs has it.

The 13th selection represented the highest a Brady team has ever picked; his Patriots were also stuck deep in the 20s, or even 30s.

Brady chose Tampa on a bit of whim. He researched the move. He checked out all the suitors. He was convinced the Bucs and coach Bruce Arians would work for him — strategically and culturally.

Yet now things keep falling in line. Gronk followed him. A talented young lineman arrived. And the cops and citizens of Tampa seem so happy he’s there that he can pretty much do whatever and go wherever he wants.

Just wait until the Bucs start winning.

New Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady capped off a great week when the Bucs drafted OT Tristan Wirfs. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
New Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady capped off a great week when the Bucs drafted OT Tristan Wirfs. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

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