The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected their team captains for 2023 and three of them are getting the "C" on their jerseys for the first time in their careers.
On offense, wide receiver Chris Godwin and tackle Tristan Wirfs are captains for the first time. They join wide receiver Mike Evans and quarterback Baker Mayfield as the leaders on that side of the ball. Evans has now been named a captain seven times. Mayfield gets that distinction for the third time in his career, having also getting the star on his jersey one season in Cleveland and one season in Carolina. Mayfield is the only one of this year's captains to be new to the Buccaneers' roster in 2023.
The Bucs also named four captains on defense, with safety Antoine Winfield Jr. earning that honor for the first time in his career. Linebacker Lavonte David is both the longest-tenured player on the current roster and the most decorated captain, having now been selected for that role for 10 straight seasons. Linebacker Devin White also repeats as a captain for the fourth time in his five-year career, and defensive lineman Vita Vea was selected for the second season in a row.
Head Coach Todd Bowles announced the selections, which were based on a player vote, to the players during the full-team meeting on Wednesday morning. The Buccaneers had elected to wait several weeks into the season to make these decisions in order to see which players were emerging as obvious leaders. The Bucs are going with the maximum allowed number of eight captains.
