What Does The Future Hold For Chris Godwin And The Bucs?

Bucs Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike Evans had to play out his contract year before receiving a two-year contract extension worth at least $41 million. Will Chris Godwin receive a similar fate in 2024 as he enters his contract year?

That certainly could be the case, as Bucs general manager Jason Licht did not give any indication that the team is interested in Godwin’s contract at this time.

“Right now we’re just we’re counting on Chris to help us out this year,” Licht said on Friday after the Mike Evans press conference. “These are things that are way down the pecking order of things that we have to do. It hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

Granted, the Bucs are in the midst of the busiest offseason in Tampa Bay since the team won Super Bowl LV in 2020 and re-signed all of the starters in March of 2021. But Godwin has the largest salary cap number on the team in 2024 at $27.534 million, according to OverTheCap.com. Defensive tackle Vita Vea is distant second at $20,965,063.

Godwin has an $18.5 million base salary in 2024 that screams “restructure” in order to help Tampa Bay gain some more salary cap room this offseason. But the Bucs don’t seem to be in hurry to rework Godwin’s 2024 number, suggesting that the team might let the receiver, who is entering his eighth year in Tampa Bay, play out his contract the way Evans did this past year.

The Bucs have other contracts with high base salaries that they can restructure, including Vea’s, as well as the contracts of Carlton Davis III ($14 million) and Jamel Dean ($12 million). Or the team could trade or release Davis and save $6,300,941. The Bucs will also release wide receiver Russell Gage in a move that will free up $6.448 million in cap room.

Extending the contracts of safety Antoine Winfield Jr. ($17.123 million) and tackle Tristan Wirfs ($18.244 million) could also result in lower 2024 base salaries and creating more cap room.

Bucs May Want To See How Chris Godwin Fares In New Offense

Chris Godwin just turned 28 in February and is entering the final season of a three-year deal worth $60 million. Godwin signed that contract in 2022 as he was rehabbing a torn ACL he suffered near the end of the 2021 season.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: USA Today

Godwin has posted four 1,000-yard seasons in Tampa Bay, beginning in 2019 when he led the Bucs with 86 catches for a career-high 1,333 yards (15.5 avg.) and nine touchdowns. The former third-round pick had 98 catches for 1,103 yards (11.3 avg.) and five TDs before suffering his knee injury in late December in 2021.

Godwin rebounded in 2022 with 104 catches for 1,023 yards and three scores, but saw his yards per catch plumet to 9.8 yards. Playing more outside receiver last year than in the slot where he lined up almost exclusively in Bruce Arians’ offense from 2019-22, Godwin hauled in 83 receptions for 1,024 yards and saw his yards per catch average rise to 12.3.

But Godwin’s receiving touchdown production has steadily declined over the past three seasons from five TDs in 2021 to three the next season and just two in 2023. New offensive coordinator Liam Coen is expected to use Godwin more in the slot this season, where he has made a career out of winning matchups against nickel cornerbacks, linebackers and safeties down the seam. Bucs general manager Jason Licht may want to see how Godwin fares in Coen’s offense before extending his contract.

With Mike Evans making an average of at least $21 million per year over the next two seasons, can the Bucs afford two $20 million receivers over the long haul? That’s what Licht and assistant general manager Mike Greenberg need to figure out. It makes sense to see how productive Godwin is this season as he inches closer to age 30, and to see if his touchdown output can also increase.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin and TE Ko Kieft – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Licht recently spoke highly of Godwin at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he’s excited to see what he can do being utilized more in the slot in 2024.

“Chris, is a very physical player,” Licht said. “He’s not afraid to work the middle. He’s not intimidated and that’s a that’s a skill in itself. He’s got fantastic hands. [He is] a very instinctive player. It’s just [that] he can play both spots, but he just seems to excel inside, and you that saw at the end of the year. Towards the end of the year, [he] started to make more plays for us. It’s hard to find those guys and Chris is a good one.

“He’s a phenomenal person, a phenomenal player, [and] a great example to this entire team. You know, you just you almost take him for granted, he’s there every day working his ass off. He came back from a brutal injury and came back faster than everybody expected. You know, he’s just Mr. Consistency.”

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