Chris Godwin: Will Play For Bucs If Tagged
February 26th, 2021
Franchise tag an option.
One danger of franchise tagging a player is that it could hack off the guy and he may sit out in protest trying to strong-arm his team into a long-term deal — or not having his services.
If Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht does end up slapping Chris Godwin with the franchise tag, Godwin said he will still suit up and play for the Bucs under the tag.
Appearing on “Total Access” last night, seen weeknights on NFL Network, host M.J. Acosta point-blank asked Godwin, “The franchise tag is still out there [for the Bucs] as a possibility. Would you be OK with that option if that’s what keeps you in Tampa.”
Godwin didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“Yeah, the way I look at it, similar to like a lot of guys. Obviously, we all want to have long-term security, we all want to be able to take care of the people that we love,” Godwin said. “So, that’s the ideal situation.
“But, you know, a franchise tag is not something that I can control. If that’s what keeps me here, then that’s what it is. And I’ll play on it and go back to war with my guys. Like I said, I love it here in Tampa, I love what we have building and I would love to stay.”
Per OverTheCap.com, the projected price for franchising a receiver is $16,430,000. That’s a nice pay raise from the $2,133,000 that Godwin made in 2020. So it is not like Godwin will be slumming it for the next few months.
It is beginning to sound to Joe as if Godwin will be on the Bucs’ 2021 roster one way or the other.
Of course, Licht may have to use that tag to keep Bucs sack king Shaq Barrett. So clearly if the Bucs can work out a deal with Godwin, that’s a win-win.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:02 am
Poor Licht has to deal with all these oily agents trying to cash in on the Brady machine.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:08 am
WTF would Licht – not find a way to sign Godwin long-term? Have we ever had a draft pick PRODUCE
February 26th, 2021 at 12:13 am
I Hit enter – accidentally. Adding on…
WTF would Licht – not find a way to sign Godwin long-term? Have we ever had a draft pick PRODUCE like Godwin as 3rd rd draft pick? All he does, is show up and produce on the cheap for 4 years. With amazing TEAM attitude.
Pay Godwin!
February 26th, 2021 at 12:15 am
News flash, he wasn’t slumming it with 2 million either. These guys live in another world. I mean, great for them. I love watching them and certainly don’t behoove them their riches. But let’s not pretend making 2 million is slumming it.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:20 am
I hope he can take care of the people he loves if he has to settle for 16 million next season.
I know it’s just the way it is to want to get as much as you can, but these numbers are just so unrelatable to nearly all of us. People would be beyond fortunate to make 16 million in their entire working career, much less in what amounts to less than one year.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:23 am
Could pay off for godwin. Could easily have bigger numbers next season , earning a potential bigger contract. brady might retire after winning another super bowl then he can avoid catching passes from gabbert
February 26th, 2021 at 12:24 am
Ronde?
Am pretty confident Licht wants to keep Godwin. The pot of soup is only so big and there are a lot of mouths to feed. Godwin’s agent had to play ball too.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:30 am
LOL, 2 Million is more than 98% of us will ever make, in our entire lives.
I think we will use the Franchise Tag this year, but the only question is, who will we use it on ?
We may need it for Shaq Barrett, instead of Chris Godwin.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:56 am
Booya @Joe – missed calling out our future HOF BUC, Ronde.
February 26th, 2021 at 12:56 am
Shaq is not getting the franchise tag. He had it last year, if he gets it this year he’s way more expensive. Like around 20 million with the tag. It’s not worth him getting tagged.
Godwin is getting the tag because it’ll be cheaper to tag him then Barrett.
February 26th, 2021 at 2:21 am
He has earned a long term deal. I don’t know if we should be the team to give it to him though. I’d prefer to keep the defense intact.
February 26th, 2021 at 3:24 am
I think something big is happening behind the scenes. You can kinda feel it right? JL sounds so confident, borderline cocky, when he says they are set up “beautifully” in regards to cap space. Teammates loves each other, love the coaches. They beat three HOFers in DB/AR/PM on their way to winning the Super Bowl in their home stadium, and then the walk-off homer… That legendary boat parade. Sunshine. Music. Water. Warm weather. Girls. Adoring fans. Tom’s billionaire boat. Tossin’ trophies!!!! They felt like rock stars, and if they stay together, they get to do it again! These guys all have a twinkle in their eyes chatting about FA and getting the band back. The whole D core is coming back. BA all but spelled that out in his presser with JL. Gronk, Godwin, appear to be back for sure, and mayyyyybe Brown on O. I think maybe Lombardi Lenny is gonna cash in with another squad. Nobody wants to walk away from Tampa right now. Nobody. Money cant buy what they have feel right now.
February 26th, 2021 at 4:40 am
I wish someone would insult me by paying me 16.8 million a year. Of course he’s playing if tagged. Would he prefer a long term deal with a huge bonus and the rest guaranteed? Of course he would.
Getting CG under contract for ‘21 is huge. BA system is pretty mediocre without him in the line up. Whoever it was the first compare him to Hines Ward was right it’s a great comparison. I’d add a little Reggie Wayne in there too.
February 26th, 2021 at 4:54 am
Fan is still a fan who only blame the owner on not paying. The fan does not want to understand there is a cap, if Shaq wants to get 25 mil, how can the team pay to other players?
February 26th, 2021 at 5:18 am
John Lynch was a third rounder as well in 1993.
February 26th, 2021 at 5:25 am
We will probably have to tag him and work on signing Shaq to a long term deal this year.
Also, in other news Adam Humphries should be available cheap, as he was just cut by the Titans. Maybe the Bucs can find a spot for him on the roster.
February 26th, 2021 at 6:21 am
Buc4evr … Bucs simply can’t afford to pay Godwin $16.4 mil AND also pay Shaq a similar amount on a long-term deal. One of the 2 of them won’t be here next year. My money’s on Shaq getting the long-term deal.
Titans cutting Humphries is intriguing. Let me see, who would I rather have for $4 mil a year, Adam Humphries or Antonio Brown? Oh wait, it wasn’t that hard after all.
February 26th, 2021 at 6:32 am
$15.3 million…
That will leave us enough cap space to buy a ham sandwich…
I hope Godwin cam also kick field goals and play backup QB…
Go Bucs!
February 26th, 2021 at 6:34 am
@ defense
I also was interested to hear Humphries is available. He had a really crappy year last year. Was he injured? Only @ 200 yards receiving.
February 26th, 2021 at 6:45 am
In Godwin’s defense, he has produced regardless of who was at QB. Shaq had one stellar season, followed by a big drop off and disappearing act when Vea got injured. I could see tagging Shaq one more year to see what you have in him.
February 26th, 2021 at 6:53 am
I’m starting to get the feeling they are going to try to sign bot Shaq & Godwin…..But I just can’t figure out how they will sign the other pieces…
Gronk, LVD, Suh, Succop
February 26th, 2021 at 7:04 am
@ TBBF
QB2, QB3, kicker and long snapper will cost @ $10 million.
Our draft picks will cost $6.5 million.
That leaves @ $20 million.
Even if we restructure a few contracts I just don’t see how we sign Godwin, Shaq and LVD. Not to mention Gronk, AB, Fornette, Suh – plus another 12-15 depth players.
February 26th, 2021 at 7:45 am
@Marine, you lost me with your overall budget. I think we currently have around $25MM without restructures; maybe I am wrong. But lets say they can get to $35 WITH some contract restructures.
The Spotrac projects the market value for Shaq, Godwin and David at:
Barrett $19.7MM/yr 4 year deal
Godwin $17.2MM/yr 4 years
LVD $12.7MM/yr 3 years
That $49MM maybe comes down bc they want to stay in Tampa; BUT that total still does not include Suh, who made $8MM last year & will maybe take $6MM, nor does it include AB, Gronk, and the other 20+/- FA we need to sign.
Our WR group is very deep. I love CG, but with ME, AB, Scooter, Johnson, Gronk and Brate (I project OJ getting the axe), we still avg 30ppg in ’21. CG is expendable
I know Shaq sucks (according to some), but we have NO ONE to replace him.
February 26th, 2021 at 7:57 am
@ Senor Harry
We dont currently know exactly what the salary cap for the NFL will be. My figures are just speculation. I was giving the Bucs a little extra cap space because they will obviously be restructuring a few contracts.
My main point is we don’t have enough cap space to sign Shaq, Godwin and LVD plus everyone else we need.
$20, $25 or $30 million it doesn’t matter. Because we can’t sign everyone regardless.
February 26th, 2021 at 8:03 am
@ Marine, in that, we are in agreement. The Bucs do NOT have enough money to sign everyone. I don’t think they have enough to sign “5 of 6” as BA said.
If they let Godwin go, as I speculate they will, do the Bucs have enough to sign both LVD ($10MM?) and Shaq ($16MM?) and still leave room for Suh $6MM?), Gronk ($8MM?), AB ($4MM?) and the other 20+/- FAs? I don’t think so.
February 26th, 2021 at 8:22 am
@ Senor Harry
Agreed. We are on the same page. Most fans are not looking at the salary cap and the other 15-20 free agents we need to sign.
I believe you are correct. We will be able to bring back 5 maybe 6 of the big 8.
If I had to guess – Succop, Gronk, AB, Suh and David make it back next year…
We draft a pass rusher, RB, WR, LB and backup lineman in the draft.
We will probably attempt to sign a veteran pass rusher this offseason but with the current cap figure it will have to be a steal of a deal…
February 26th, 2021 at 8:22 am
Great problems to have. Humphries is meh. He downshift have the ability to play the spot the way Arians wants. He’s not physical enough. Godwin is protypical for the slot in this system.
I’d rather give Scooter touches by a long shot.
Plus we have Tyler.
In BA I Trust!
February 26th, 2021 at 8:23 am
Doesn’t, not downshift. Ugh
In BA I Trust!
February 26th, 2021 at 8:25 am
Smartest thing the Bucs could do is franchise Godwin, and tell him to find a trade partner. Getting at least a first for Godwin the Bucs could draft an edge rusher to replace JPP next year, and land a DT like Barmore to replace Suh this year. I love Godwin, but we found him in the 3rd round, we got Johnson in the 5th. Receivers can be found, we can’t pay two receivers #1 receiver money.
February 26th, 2021 at 8:37 am
@ Hodad
I like your idea of tagging Godwin and trading him. But what happens if he does not find a better offer?
We just used half of our entire cap space in one guy.
It’s a risky move. Getting a first round pick would be awesome…
February 26th, 2021 at 9:33 am
@Hodad, raggio does not work in the NFL like it does in the NBA. The NBA rules make this work.
If you tag CG, you are paying him $16.4MM. Why would another team trade for CG when they could just sign him themselves for slightly more ($17MM) and give up nothing?
February 26th, 2021 at 9:34 am
opps, raggio = tagging^^^
February 26th, 2021 at 9:55 am
senior harry
the point is if the bucs franchise godwin then if another team wants him they have to trade for him they don’t have the option to make him an offer.
February 26th, 2021 at 10:50 am
Priorities should be Succup, Gronk, LVD, Suh & Shaq. Would save a lot by resigning AB & letting Godwin walk unless he’s willing to play for around 11 or 12 mil. Also have some really good backup receivers. Also need to resign Minter. Excellent backup LB.
February 26th, 2021 at 5:10 pm
Part of it will be inside info we arent in touch with . Does bowles and arians think shaq will work just as hard once he gets his contract . We know david did.