Contract Deadline Agreement Between Bucs, Chris Godwin Suggests Serious Talks Underway
February 19th, 2025
Smoke signals.
This seems to Joe that the odds (whatever they may be) that Bucs receiver Chris Godwin may return for the 2025 season just got better.
Per Greg Auman of FOX Sports, Godwin and the Bucs have agreed to extend a deadline that buys both parties a couple of weeks to hammer out a deal to keep Godwin with the Bucs before Godwin hits free agency.
The Bucs and Godwin now have until March 12 to work out a contract. At 4 p.m. on March 12, the new league year begins. It’s also when the free agency dinner bell rings.
(Legal tampering begins March 10. Illegal tampering ramps up next week at the combine.)
If Godwin’s contract had voided on Tuesday, which it was originally supposed to do, per Auman, it would have sparked an $18 million dead money cap hit against the Bucs’ 2025 cap.
So if the Bucs are able to ink a deal with Godwin before the new league year/start of free agency, it will save the Bucs a nice piece of change against the cap.
February 19th, 2025 at 12:04 am
🙂
February 19th, 2025 at 12:17 am
This is a good sign. I’d put Chris resigning somewhere in the neighborhood of 90%-95%.
February 19th, 2025 at 12:25 am
This is very good news. Tampa loves #14
February 19th, 2025 at 12:31 am
Re-signing Godwin does not “save” the Bucs anything….
It just allows them to gain cap space this year – by pushing the $18.5M (cap gain they already used via Godwin’s contract 3 years ago) down the road – again…..
I hate that the Bucs are adding to the already somewhat formidable future debt – but there’s no other way to re-sign Godwin since the team currently has less than $5M to ‘spend’in cap space.
February 19th, 2025 at 2:17 am
As expected. They Will Not dish out that 40 mil to put him on the tag again. They Will find a way to keep him and save some cap space. Why? Because it is in both parties best interest.
Godwin is coming off an injury and who knows if he comes back to 100% Will the market be there for him? I have my doubts. Another SB in play here?
We need to keep the party going with he and Mike, That duo scares the heck out of opponents, and gives us major options offensively. Add that we have a #3 that may or may not be the answer in McMillan. Looks good so far but for only the last few games.
Go Bucs!
February 19th, 2025 at 2:22 am
Not signing him will limit the dead cap hit to this year, and also save them a few million, since he’d likely get 20-21 mil per year.
Unless they have an out next year in case he isn’t good anymore.
February 19th, 2025 at 2:26 am
Pickgrin Says:
“…since the team currently has less than $5M to ‘spend’in cap space.”
Thankfully, they have a while before they have to get under the cap total.
I wonder…can they somehow eat half of the dead cap hit this year if they resign him?
Say, like if they have enough left over cap room?
February 19th, 2025 at 2:38 am
Pickgrin … I’m not sure how meaningful Top-51 our salary CAP space ($5.7 mil) and Dead Money ($29.5 mil) is at this point in the season.
For instance, included in the current 2025 CAP allocation ($285.2 mil for 62 players under contract) are numbers (roughly $23.0 mil) for the voided contracts for Godwin, Gaines & Nelson (all UFAs soon). I fully expect that Bucs will re-do the contracts on all 3 of those players, and the impact of their contract will change considerably.
I also expect that the Bucs will re-do several (if not all) of our high-value contracts to ‘create’ space to re-sign some of our UFAs and to add other UFAs to fill some of our existing holes. For instance, Bucs have $174.2 mil of our $276.0 Top-51 salary CAP tied up in only 7 contracts (Mayfield, Wirfs, Evans, Winfield, Vea, Godwin & Dean). I’d bet that we’ll re-do at least half of those to ‘create space’ to sign quality players to make us competitive for the 2025 season.
Like you ‘I hate that the Bucs are adding to the already somewhat formidable future debt’ but we have no real choice. If we don’t ‘create space’, there’s no way that we’d be competitive for this season with ony $5.7 mil of current CAP space available to fill all the holes that currently exist, not just re-sign Chris Godwin.
February 19th, 2025 at 2:55 am
garro … ‘Add that we have a #3 that may or may not be the answer in McMillan. Looks good so far but for only the last few games.’
Lest we forget, McMillan had hamstring issues for several games last season (only got into 13 games last year). Good potential as a slot receiver, but on the light side (6’1″ & 192 lbs). Godwin’s the same height but considerably heavier (6’1″ & 209 lbs). He took 2 brutal hits that probably would’ve done in McMillan & most other slot receivers.
We’ve seen in the past how quickly a team can go through WRs because of injuries. Our Top-3 last season (Evans-14 games, Godwin-7 games and McMillan-13 games) only gave us 34 games last year … the equivalent of 2 healthy receivers. Our next 5 Wrs (Shepard-14 games, Palmer-15 games, Miller-11 games, Jarrett-10 games and Johnson-5 games) only gave us 55 games total … roughly the equivalent of 3 more WRs on a 17-game schedule. Bucs aren’t THAT deep that we can afford to NOT re-sign Chris.
February 19th, 2025 at 3:03 am
Bonzai … ‘Unless they have an out next year in case he isn’t good anymore.’
No question we’re taking a chance in re-signing Godwin, but I’m confident there are ways that can be mitigated somewhat. Too many folks don’t appreciate IMO just how really good Chris Godwin is. McMillan is looked upon as being ‘fast’ … he ran a 4.47 sec 40 at his Combine. Chris ran a 4.42 sec 40 at his. He’s got exellent size and he’s an incredible blocker who’d never afraid to stick his nose in there. He’ll make it back good as new, and I’m sure that JL will do eveything in his power to re-sign him.
February 19th, 2025 at 5:37 am
Like everybody I hope CG14 returns. Return or not I’m not sure why the Bucs don’t make Rachaad White the next Lennie Moore, the great Colt halfback/WR who was incredibly versatile just like White.
Remember when there were halfbacks and fullbacks, now RB’s and blocking backs.
White is perfect for the slot! He’s used to the greater contact from his RB background, and better suited for the violence of the slot. JMac probably needs to go outside and CG if he returns may be moved around as well.
February 19th, 2025 at 5:57 am
What Defense Rules said.
We just need to make sure Chris stays with us.
This is a step in the right direction.
February 19th, 2025 at 6:53 am
Pig is right. Signing Godwin dose not save us cap space it pushes it down the road. Plus it;s going to cost 20 million a year to sign him. That money can better to be used signing FA defensive players. The offense scored almost 30 points a game without Chris.
February 19th, 2025 at 6:58 am
That tells me there aren’t close. Godwin wants more than Bucs want to give so they are letting him have a chance to see what the market offers him and then will try to either match it or make the tough decision to let him walk.
February 19th, 2025 at 7:37 am
Let him retire a Buc. He is the 2nd WR in Bucs history behind Mike Evans and he loves the community.
February 19th, 2025 at 7:52 am
Signing CG14 DOES help with this year’s cap at the expense of next year …BUT this is the LAST year dealing with tons of dead money with Jensen and Shaq, so we’re really only mortgaging the future for a single year. So we got THAT going for us, which is nice
February 19th, 2025 at 8:06 am
Stpetebucsfan: You are right on. new OC should review old Lenny Moore videos on how he was used and incorporate that usage into our offensive scheme. Let White catch and run over some nickel corners.
February 19th, 2025 at 8:09 am
Not counting my eggs. Been down this road, “Coen is staying,” before.
February 19th, 2025 at 9:08 am
In Greenberg we trust.
February 19th, 2025 at 9:49 am
Famu
Like your thoughts about running over nickel corners as well as leaving ILB’s searching for their jocks. White has some good open field moves and I agree they should look at Lennie Moore video.
February 19th, 2025 at 9:59 am
@Defense Rules and Pickgrin
re: “I hate that the Bucs are adding to the already somewhat formidable future debt…”
One thing that you may both have forgotten to factor is that the salary cap is due for a moderate boost next year and has trended upwards every year for the entire existence of the cap except one (2021), by an average increase (even factoring in 2021’s cap reduction) of around 7% over the last decade. Factor the COVID year out, and the average increase over the past 10 “increase” years is actually closer to 8.5%. With caps now closing in on (and soon to exceed) $300 million, the dead money won’t hurt nearly as much in the coming years as it would today.
This isn’t finances like we deal with at the kitchen table. There’s no interest on the debt, just a piper to be paid eventually — and the longer you put off paying the piper, the less of a realized cap hit the team will eventually take.
Is it ideal? No. Is it necessary if we want to stay relevant in this league? Certainly.
February 19th, 2025 at 10:50 am
Mayfield signed for under his market value and called his signing “life changing money.” Whether you are making $18Mill or $22Mill it is all life changing and you share a huge chunk with Uncle Sam. Hope CG14 sees it that way and that he appreciates the connection he has with Mayfield. CG is obviously near the top in NFL receivers with great hands and disciplined routes. McMillan is fine but Godwin is GREAT.
February 19th, 2025 at 11:33 am
Can’t believe the Combine starts next week. Time flies. Sounds like a win-win for Chris and the Bucs. Reading between the lines, his ankle sounds back to par too. Hope to see him retire a Buc.
February 19th, 2025 at 12:45 pm
But if Cohen & Jacksonville offer Godwin 25 mill a year before 12 Mar. are Bucs going to match that? Doubtful.
February 19th, 2025 at 2:04 pm
@Pickgrin every team does it, at least the Bucs do it in a somewhat sufficient and smart way. How else can teams keep up with others who arent afraid to drop stacks and kick the can down the road. Godwin is fairly young still, he has a few good years remaining which gives them time to spread the money out if needed.
February 19th, 2025 at 5:41 pm
I’ve been out of the loop and did not see this until now. Amazing if they can get it done!
As for the $18m cap hit, as a void year, don’t they have to pay it either way? I’ve never really seen a good breakdown of how void years work – but my limited understanding is that you pay it no matter if they resign or not.
If that is correct, the work around is you get a first year base salary of like $2m or something – and you make most, if not all the deal, guaranteed and pad it out with more void years at the end.
So in that example, you got a $20m cap hit. Anywho, that’s what I understand, I could be wrong.
February 19th, 2025 at 6:01 pm
Bobby Says:
February 19th, 2025 at 12:45 pm
But if Cohen & Jacksonville offer Godwin 25 mill a year before 12 Mar. are Bucs going to match that? Doubtful.
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Only the Bucs can negotiate with him till free agency begins, that’s why they want it done early.
February 19th, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Saves an immediate 18 mill cap hit this year for another player not on the team. Already eating the enormous hit from Shaq’s extortion contract and the Jensen contract from hell Licht fell for. At least we can stretch out the hits for Chris over some future years he hopefully is still on the team. We need help now. Licht keeps handing out giant contracts to every player who flashes. The Piper is always right around the corner with his hand out. All that largesse for Winfield, Evans, Godwin and Wirfs et. al., loom over the future like a dark cloud.
Obviously, we don’t “save” the 18 mill, we just don’t lose it to a nonplayer on the team this year. The cap room ponzi scheme of NFL salaries is a dirty dangerous game. How well you play it determines your fate. This FO went all in for Brady. They don’t seem to want to pull back from overpaying players and pushing the debt down the road. That being the case it looks like the window is the next couple of years for another SB.
February 20th, 2025 at 3:04 pm
Whatever it takes !! We must have ME13 and CG14 in order to go deep into the playoffs in 2026.
Go Bucs 2025 !!
February 20th, 2025 at 5:29 pm
Badbucs Says:
February 19th, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Saves an immediate 18 mill cap hit this year for another player not on the team.
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No, it doesn’t. That is not how void years work, even if extended you still take a hit. Reading more, it looks like it’s around $8m to $10m they can spread over multiple years.
I wish there was some cap experts that really understood this stuff that would explain it detail once and for all.