The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are paying offensive tackle Luke Goedeke a lot of money and not getting the best return on investment.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put out his annual NFL trade value rankings, and the Buccaneers registered lower than most teams in terms of high-value stars, with Goedeke’s injury issues playing a major factor.
In Barnwell’s rankings, only offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, and rookie edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. received trade valuations equivalent to 1st-round picks — 1 of the league’s lowest totals.
“The Bucs have a lot of good players but very few stars, which is borne out by the trade tiers here,” Barnwell wrote on July 16. ” … Goedeke is one of the league’s better right tackles when healthy, but he has missed most or all of 21 games over his first four seasons.”
Regardless of how much Goedeke plays each year, the Buccaneers are certainly paying him like an elite offensive tackle — he signed a 4-year, $90 million contract extension before the 2025 season.
In 2025, as the Buccaneers went 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2019, Goedeke missed 6 games due to injury.
Massive Investment for Former 2nd Round Pick
In 2025, for the 2nd year in a row, the Buccaneers delivered a massive payday to one of their elite offensive linemen.
Goedeke’s payday came 1 year after Tampa Bay made left offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs the highest-paid offensive tackle in NFL history with a 5-year, $140.6 million contract extension.
“The #Bucs have agreed to terms with their standout OT Luke Goedeke, as he gets a 4-year, $90M deal — $22.5M APY — that includes $50M guaranteed,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account in September 2025. “Tampa Bay locks up another key O-lineman.”
Goedeke allowed the Buccaneers to redo his contract this offseason.
“The Buccaneers converted Luke Goedeke’s $20M roster bonus into signing bonus, clearing $15.2M of 2026 cap space,” Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti wrote on his official X account on March 16.
Massive Payday Followed by Crushing Injury News
The 27-year-old Goedeke’s massive payday was followed by some equally crushing news for the Buccaneers after he landed on injured reserve with a foot injury suffered in a Week 2 win over the Houston Texans.
Goedeke missed a career-high 6 games due to the injury but returned to finish the season with a 75.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, showing he was still 1 of the NFL’s elite players at his position.
In his first 4 seasons, Goedeke started 49 out of a possible 52 career games after becoming a full-time starter 6 weeks into his rookie season.
Luke Goedeke’s Path: NCAA Division III-MAC-NFL
Goedeke took an unusual path to cashing in on NFL riches.
The native of tiny Whitelaw, Wisconsin (pop. 732), started his college career as a tight end at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point before he transferred to Central Michigan, where he switched positions to offensive tackle and was an All-MAC selection in 2021.
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Goedeke as a 2nd or 3rd round pick in his pre-draft evaluation. The Buccaneers selected Goedeke in the second round (No. 57 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.
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