Why The Bucs Want Chris Godwin
February 17th, 2022
Value.
On face value, this seems like a dumb comment: The want to keep Chris Godwin.
He’s a good player and teams want to keep good players, duh. But with Godwin and the Bucs, it is much deeper than that.
Godwin, since the Bucs drafted him, has been damn near as consistent as Mike Evans, who has set a new NFL bar for consistency. And even though you can pretty much bank on Godwin’s production, it is what he does in Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians’ offense that makes him probably more valuable to the Bucs than he would be to any other NFL team.
Matt Bowen of BSPN explains.
Scheme fit: Godwin is shifty and explosive in Byron Leftwich’s offense, and he has high-end ability to run after the catch. He would be an upper-tier slot target for Tom Brady’s successor at quarterback.
No one has told Joe this, but as Karl Malden, playing Gen. Omar Bradley, told George C. Scott, playing George Patton in the timeless Christmas classic “Patton,” Joe can read a map. If everything worked out, the Bucs hoped that Tyler Johnson would be able to replace Godwin as a slot receiver as Godwin went on to greener pastures and the Bucs kept that Team Glazer loot to spend elsewhere (quarterback?), rather than on two No. 1 receivers.
That didn’t happen.
Johnson, if anything, regressed in his second year with the Bucs. He is not a consistent catcher of the football (for every highlight catch he makes he drops two cans of corn). And while Arians raves about Johnson’s blocking, is it any better than the immortal Cyril Grayson’s or Godwin’s?
Simply put, Johnson isn’t close to being an NFL starter at a position with such importance as the slot receiver has for Arians. Everywhere Arians has been, he’s had a stud player at slot. So unless he had someone groomed and ready to go, he’s not going to let Godwin out the door without a fight.
Basically, Godwin has the Bucs by the pelotas.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:26 am
PAY THE MAN!
February 17th, 2022 at 11:28 am
Chris deserves a big contract, but I hope that we don’t overpay for an injury prone player that has missed significant time three years running. Don’t make the Amari Cooper mistake like the idiot cowboys Licht!
February 17th, 2022 at 11:33 am
Signing Godwin is so important in what the Bucs can/will do at QB, IMO.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:41 am
They will tag him……I am convinced!
February 17th, 2022 at 11:42 am
“Injury prone.” I get it, but sometimes it’s just bad luck. No one is tougher than Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. I mean, are these guys truly WRs? (Seems WRs are the biggest divas in football). They have the toughness of OL.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:47 am
I agree Joe – T. Johnson has not progressed and had trouble catching accurate passes from TB12.
This offense really needs 3 quality receivers in order to fire on all pistons.
Even if we re-sign Godwin the Bucs should still draft a WR in round one.
Johnson, Miller and Darden are not going to cut the mustard…
Remember how this offense looked with Evans, AB, Godwin and Gronk all on the field along with TB12 throwing the rock?
This offense struggled without Godwin and struggled worse without Godwin and AB.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:48 am
If CG14 comes back then TB12 comes back
February 17th, 2022 at 11:48 am
If Godwin leaves, I would put money – Bucs draft a WR in the first round.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:55 am
I think Godwin tests the market but ultimately stays in Tampa. I love the guy but I don’t think he’s a top 10 WR1 anywhere else. He fits perfectly here with Evans.
February 17th, 2022 at 11:56 am
I think they may draft a wr in the first even if he comes back
February 17th, 2022 at 12:06 pm
@ Ash
Agreed.
Without three quality receivers this offense is a toothless dog…
February 17th, 2022 at 12:08 pm
LOL strap a Cesta on Trask and turn him loose!
February 17th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Must.Keep.Chris.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:12 pm
Pay him, pay that man his money. – KGB
February 17th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
The odds of Tyler Johnson becoming Chris Godwin’s replacement were as good as the Americans beating the Afrika Corps at Kasserine Pass.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:22 pm
Nice “Rounders” reference! GREAT movie!
February 17th, 2022 at 12:24 pm
If Godwin’s price tag is too high for the Bucs perhaps the move is to let him walk and sign 3 free agent wide receivers for a lower price…
OBJ
S. Watkins
J.J Smith-Shuster
Can all be had for the same price as Godwin…
This might the year to go for “quantity over quality” given our mediocre salary cap situation.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:34 pm
Bucs will sign Godwin…..he’s our draft pick….he likes Tampa, his teammates, coaches….
And, I don’t think he gives a rat’s a$$ who the QB is….he’s out for the big money multi-year contract…..
There are great WRs all over the league who play for average QBs……
Look at Calvin Johnson….played for the Lions for years….there are others….
February 17th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
We lost the Super Bowl when we lost Godwin. Pay the man…..
February 17th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
We aren’t winning jack.
Waste of money.
Rebuild and do it right.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:57 pm
Marine Buc … Bucs seem to perform best when they have an intermediate/deep threat (Mike Evans), a quality slot man (Chris Godwin), a beastly TE (Gronk) and a outlet RB (Lenny). Very nice to have all the other weapons available (speedsters like Scotty Miller to spread the defense, etc), but I think we can survive with 2 primary WRs, 1 beastly TE & 1 quality RB (plus all the rotational guys & backups of course).
Still, that’s a lot of CAP hit for just those 4. Throw in the cost of a beastly OLine to protect whatever QB we end up with and that’s a lot of dinero. And that’s before we even talk about the cost of the QB himself. It’s not cheap to be good. But then again, it’s not good to be cheap either.
February 17th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
Marine… I’ve seen some bad ass toothless dogs.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Rare talent…. Worth every penny! This dude caught 25 balls in 2 games!
February 17th, 2022 at 1:07 pm
@ DR
I like your quote.
“It’s not cheap to be good, it’s not good to be cheap either…
I agree with that.
However – to me it’s not about being cheap as much as it is having a “Plan B”…
There is a 50/50 chance that Godwin will chase big money somewhere else. I would rather keep Godwin (I’m a huge fan) but we should discuss what is the backup plan in case CG decides to leave.
I understand what your saying about the Bucs offense working well with just two receivers – BUT – what happens when one of those two receivers go down in week #2?
Johnson, Miller, Darden?
No thanks… We need several quality receivers in order to survive and win games especially late in the season (playoffs) when there are a ton of injuries to deal with…
February 17th, 2022 at 1:28 pm
We sold our Soul to win a super bowl, and now it has come back to bite us in the azz!
Brady saw the writing on the wall, and that is why he left.
It is going to be a real struggle to sign many of our guys.
We are nearly broke!
I hope we can sign Chris, but it is not looking good.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
I love Godwin, but I think we need the cap space. I’d love to see them revamp the defense, pick up a couple young WR’s in the top couple rounds. I’d see if anyone would give me a couple of picks for Shaq. Get the cap down so we can make improvements where theyre needed.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:38 pm
@ Chris
Agreed.
We will restructure a few contracts (Evans, Smith, Brate, Marpet, Barrett) and possible make a few cuts (Succop, Pinion) and could possibly make a few trades (Smith, Barrett) in order to free up cap space.
My hope is to have at least $40 million to spend. I also hope some of our free agents won’t mind pushing money into next year and beyond in order to help out.
But we need to be realistic… That’s why I suggested going after several decent/solid WR free agents (see above).
If I were rebuilding this roster I would go for QUANTITY over QUALITY and hope for the best.
Same with our QB situation… Forget about Rodgers, Wilson, Jimmy G and Watson…
Gabbert/Trask makes the most sense given the circumstances.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:45 pm
BTW, Greg Auman has an excellent write up about the Bucs cap situation on The Athletic, he goes through all the performance escalators in last years deal, and how some of the young guys got an automatic big bump in pay by the NFL rules that give bonuses to mid and late round picks that play well. Auman also goes over how the Bucs could pretty easily create an extra $45m in space before they even start cutting guys like JPP. It’s an excellent piece for people who enjoy the cap and salary side of the game.
February 17th, 2022 at 1:59 pm
Chris Godwin is the Bucs version of Hines Ward. Kangol knows he can’t afford to lose Godwin. He will be a high resign priority.
February 17th, 2022 at 2:09 pm
@ Rod
I saw that article and the one from Pewter report which pretty much said the same thing.
For me it’s not so much the salary cap dollars we have to spend – it’s also the number of free agents we have to sign…
If you include our long snapper and Pat O’Conner – we have 26 free agents. 11 of which were starters last season. Plus – two free agents (Godwin, Davis) will be fetching huge dollars on the open market.
Again I will repeat my mantra for the off season – QUANTITY over QUALITY…
We have at least 22 roster positions to fill out of 54. Not an easy task even with $45 million dollars to spend.
February 17th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Sign Godwin….we still need to draft a WR in the first 3 rounds……if we don’t sign him, we need to draft a WR in the 1st round…..
February 17th, 2022 at 3:01 pm
AlabamaBucsFan Says:
February 17th, 2022 at 11:48 am
I’d put money on it even if Godwin stays. This offense needs 3 receivers to operate at its best. Plus, Godwin and Evans do tend to miss games due to injury. I’d put WR3 in our top 3 draft needs, pre free agency.
February 17th, 2022 at 4:11 pm
If Godwin stays draft Burks for other outside receiver, if Godwin leaves draft Dotson for slot and sign a low cost FA.
February 17th, 2022 at 6:41 pm
Hot take- maybe we should convert Johnson to TE lol. Then he can do what he’s best at every time he’s on the field!
February 17th, 2022 at 8:39 pm
“…Godwin has the Bucs by the pelotas.”
“…LOL strap a Cesta on Trask and turn him loose!”
I haven’t heard those terms since I worked at Tampa Jai-Alai back in the day!
Laca II and Daniel II were machines in the backcourt and Luis had the best touch of any frontcourt player that I’ve ever seen.
Great times! Thanks for the flashback!
February 18th, 2022 at 12:34 am
Marine Buc – I didn’t see the PR article, I’ll have to go check it out.
Also, I’m an idiot, I thought JPP was still under contract — well there goes $12m from what I was thinking.
In any case, you figure out of the 26 free agents, that 21 of them are going to be playing on vet minimum deals. Then, for someone like Godwin, they can do the big signing bonus and long deal, or use guaranteed salaries. The issue with resigning Godwin, however, is that the cap goes up huge next year, and you could make a compelling case that while he might get $17m/per year this year on a long term deal, next year that might be $21m/year long term deal. That might be the hold up on getting something done.
What will kill the Bucs is if they have to franchise tag Godwin again, that is going to make things very tough.
February 18th, 2022 at 4:27 pm
I think every GM has the idea to replace their expensive vet for somebody cheaper BUT I think it’s a stretch to say they thought Johnson would. He was a 4th round pick lol, trying to replace 1 of the better WRs in the game needs a lil more attention than that.