The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one of the NFL’s best offenses in 2024 and did so while playing large chunks of the season without their best offensive weapons — wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
With both Evans and Godwin back in the fold in 2025 and both presumably healthy and an up-and-coming wide receiver in Jalen McMillan, Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski ranked Tampa Bay’s wide receivers group No. 3 in the entire NFL following free agency.
That ranking comes thanks to Godwin giving the Buccaneers a massive hometown discount and returning on a 3-year, $66 million contract he signed on March 10.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a special bond in their wide receiver room,” Sobleski wrote. “So much so, Chris Godwin could have left during free agency and made significantly more by joining the New England Patriots … Jalen McMillan injects some youth and upside in the group after adding 461 yards and eight touchdowns during his rookie campaign.”
Godwin Could Have Landed Massive Payday Elsewhere
Godwin turned his back on what could have been, possibly, tens of millions more to play somewhere other than Tampa Bay, where he’s spent his entire career since they picked him in the third round (No. 84 overall) out of Penn State in the 2017 NFL draft.
Spotrac had Godwin in line for a 4-year, $92 million contract headed into the start of the 2025 free agency cycle.
The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia had Godwin as the No. 3 overall NFL free agent, putting the nine-year veteran in the “Break the Bank” tier of free agents.
Godwin is coming off a season-ending ankle injury in Week 7, when he was second in the NFL in receiving yards behind Bengals superstar Ja’Marr Chase.
“Unless there are long-term concerns about how he’ll recover from the ankle injury, the floor for Godwin’s deal probably looks something like the four-year, $92 million deal (at $23 million per year) that Calvin Ridley signed with the Titans last offseason,” Kapadia wrote.
This is the second consecutive year the Buccaneers have dropped big money on a wide receiver, signing Evans to a 2-year, $52 million contract extension in March 2024.
Franchise Tag Not Realistic Option for Godwin, Bucs
Fox Sports NFL reporter Greg Auman succinctly broke down why a franchise tag wasn’t a realistic option for the Buccaneers and Godwin, who just played out the 3-year, $60 million contract extension he signed in March 2022.
Godwin has already been given the franchise tag by the Buccaneers twice in his career, playing on a 1-year, $$15.983 million franchise tag in 2021 before getting a 1-year, $19.1 million franchise tag in 2022. Following the end of his current contract, Godwin will have a staggering $146.6 million in career earnings.
“Bucs aren’t tagging Chris Godwin,” Auman wrote on March 3. “A third tag isn’t a 144 percent raise, it’s the higher of 144 percent of the previous salary (a 44% raise) or the franchise tag number for the highest position, QB, which is $40 million this year. They’re not tagging him, regardless.”
It’s not all about Evans and Godwin, either. While McMillan scored 8 touchdowns in 2024, 7 of them came over the last 5 games of the regular season, with at least 1 touchdown in each of the last 5 games.
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