ESPN: Chris Godwin Has His Best Fit In Tampa Bay
February 16th, 2022
Destination: Tampa Bay?
With the free agency dinner bell set to ring in exactly a month, and the NFL world descending upon downtown Indianapolis in two weeks where free agent tire-kickings will begin in earnest, the BSPN crowd is trying to plug in where the top free agents will go.
And where they should go.
Bucs stud receiver Chris Godwin shouldn’t be going anywhere, according to longtime NFL writer Jeremy Fowler. He believes in the end, Godwin will stay with the Bucs.
Why it makes sense: The Bucs have long planned to make Godwin a competitive offer to remain in Tampa Bay, viewing him as the Lavonte David of the offense — the quintessential Buccaneer. New England and Miami make sense as contenders if he hits the market.
In Joe’s mind, the Bucs need to keep Godwin for two reasons if they hope to make a run n 2022.
First, the Bucs need to maintain an attractive roster in order to lure a decent quarterback. One reason Tom Brady selected the Bucs was Tampa Bay’s weapons that included Godwin.
The second reason the Bucs must keep Godwin is if the Bucs plan to go with a lesser quarterback, they’ll need a receiver to fight for catches in traffic the way Godwin does.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:08 am
Right now none of the three teams mentioned have a QB worth playing with.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:16 am
Chris Godwin is part of our 1-2 punch, with Mike Evans.
I think we will resign him.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:21 am
I love godwin but am ok if we sign a cheaper vet. Iwant to keep cappa and whitehead and davis at the right price
February 16th, 2022 at 9:30 am
love CG……don’t love big money to someone coming off an injury and with no defiinitive QB.
fire sale
rebuild
February 16th, 2022 at 9:43 am
We need Godwin and a replacement for AB. But even with Evans, Godwin and a dam good wideout, we still need a qb who can get them the ball quickly and with accuracy. Is Trask good enough to be Brady lite? Would any affordable free agent qb be good enough? The needs on offense are doable. The needs on defense may be much harder to fill.
February 16th, 2022 at 9:43 am
Godwin is a great player & a great person so I would like us to keep him. I don’t love the rest of our WR core and it was obvious that they just weren’t very good. As much as I like Whitehead, Edwards seems like a total game-changer. Every time he was out there he forced a fumble or got a pick so I don’t think we lose a step if we cant retain Whitehead. Cappa is pretty good but we should not break the bank to retain a player that’s just pretty good. Of all our FA’s Godwin is by far the best. (Also if we resign Godwin even on a high-end deal we can always restructure that deal and free up the cap now. He is young enough to do this like we do with Evans.)
February 16th, 2022 at 9:49 am
As ghoulish as it sounds, the knee injury will actually help Tampa Bay.
First, any new (non-TB) team acquiring Godwin will know he won’t be available during camp, the preseason, and half of the regular season. That means even when he does become ready, he won’t be anywhere up to full speed in terms of chemistry with his QB, let alone a thorough understanding of the playbook (it’s one thing to learn from a binder, another to go out there and execute per multiple repetitions).
Second, think about the finances. Any team acquiring Godwin will know he won’t be as effective the first season. He may miss more than half of a season, and even then not be at 100%. That means on a 4 year deal, the team is really only paying (on average) for 3.5 years (perhaps less). This means that you can keep his annual cap space figure down over the term (4 years) of his deal. Example, pretend Godwin was worth $80 million spread out over 4 years ($20 million per season). With reduced effectiveness the first year, his worth might be closer to $10 million for the first season, and $20 million thereafter ($10M + $20M + $20M + $20M = $70M). That’s an annual hit (on average) of $17.5M, that extra $2.5M buys you a decent backup at a weak position on the roster. Of course with the magic of cap math, you can reduce that number even further (accounting is so much fun).
February 16th, 2022 at 10:13 am
How can this be his best fit with NO QB?
February 16th, 2022 at 10:52 am
Keeping Chris is a must, he’s just too damn good to lose. Him and Evans are the kind of combo practically every team in the league is trying to build year in, year out. If Cyril keeps up his promising development, we stand to still be in competition for best starting receiver group in the league.
February 16th, 2022 at 11:42 am
He will stay because we are one of the few teams that will pay him big money to be the best 1A receiver in the game. This kid maximizes his talent and has gotten every drop out of it the past few seasons. Still, no DC will ever say we are going to double team CG and make Evans beat us.
February 16th, 2022 at 8:28 pm
Yep.. with a unknown recovery
February 16th, 2022 at 8:35 pm
We can’t pay all our free agents, but it would B nice to pay the man! CG enjoy watching you ball.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
The dropoff at wide receiver after Godwin is massive. We’ve got a top five guy in Mike, a borderline number one in Godwin and then a whole bunch of fourth stringers at best. He’s a must keep even if he is on the brittle side. Hopefully he won’t price himself out of town.