The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be a better team with veteran wide receiver Chris Godwin on the roster in 2025. There is no disputing that.
Thanks to Godwin’s own reputation and a market that seems to only heap more and more value on his position, the odds of that happening only seem to get worse by the day.
With the NFL season just coming to an end, a flood of new free agent rankings and speculation is hitting the airwaves and each new list has Godwin among the most prized free agents in the NFL.
Godwin was playing some of the best football of his career when he suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle in Week 2 and is a plug-and-play WR1 or WR2 option for a contender — he’s also seen his market value leap up to a 3-year, $67.5 million contract in Spotrac’s latest market value projections.
“Godwin was on pace for another Godwin-like campaign in 2024 before an ankle injury derailed his season,” Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti wrote on February 11. “Teams will have some pause when assessing the 28-year-old coming back from his second major injury, but a weak WR market will help sustain his ability to cash in.”
Premium Value on NFL Wide Receivers in 2025
The 2024 offseason saw contracts for wide receivers skyrocket thanks to a pair of deals for Dallas Cowboys All-Pro CeeDee Lamb (4 years, $136 million) and Minnesota Vikings All-Pro Justin Jefferson (4 years, $140 million), with an even larger contract likely on the way for Cincinnati Bengals superstar Ja’Marr Chase after he won the receiving triple crown in 2024.
That means another windfall for Godwin, who just played the final season of the 3-year, $60 million contract extension he signed in March 2022.
Pro Football Focus has Godwin ranked No. 4 overall on its list of Top 100 NFL Free Agents in 2025.
From PFF: “Godwin has consistently displayed reliable hands, dropping fewer than 6% of catchable passes in seven of his eight NFL seasons. He maintained that standard in 2024, earning an 85.7 PFF receiving grade through nearly seven weeks without a single drop on 52 catchable targets. However, Godwin sustained a season-ending left ankle dislocation. He is no stranger to entering free agency with an injury, and hopefully, the recovery will be even quicker this time around.”
Godwin One of NFL’s Most Consistent WR Threats
Godwin was on track to have the best season of his career before he suffered a dislocated ankle in Week 7 — at the time he was leading the Buccaneers and third in the NFL with 50 receptions for 576 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Godwin was also on track for his fourth consecutive season of at least 1,000 receiving yards. He had his career high of 1,333 receiving yards in 2019, when he was named NFL All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl.
Along with Godwin, players like players like Tee Higgins, Stefon Diggs, Amari Cooper and Diontae Johnson are all going to be free agents, with Higgins being the likely top prize among that group — a player that command a total contract value of approximately $100 million over 3 or 4 years.
The Buccaneers only have a projected $2.2 million in salary cap space available in 2025 — meaning Godwin’s time with the team might have come to a close
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Buccaneers Get Bad News on Potential $66 Million WR Chris Godwin appeared first on Heavy Sports.