Buccaneers need to find a way to pay WR Chris Godwin
The Tampa Bay Bucaneers need to find a way to pay Chris Godwin and keep enough cap space for the rest of the team or risk losing him to another team.
One would think that after Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin put on a show playing for Penn State in the 2017 Rose Bowl with a 9-catch, 187 yards, two touchdown display that he would have leaped up in the 2017 NFL Draft. But that was not the case. In fact, Godwin had to wait till the second day before the Bucs were able to reel him in with the No. 8 pick of the third round.
While that may seem surprising to some, I am pretty sure the Buccaneers knew what they were getting. Throughout his entire time playing football, Godwin has done nothing but put his big-play skills on display. In high school, he set records and contributed in big ways every year, and he helped bring home two state championships during that time.
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As a senior in high school, Godwin had 1,150 yards and 16 touchdowns. His honors not only included things like the Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year and being named All-State as a sophomore, junior and senior, but he also proved his value with his grades.
He was an Academic All-State selection, a member of the honor roll, and rated a four-star prospect in all four major recruiting services.
At Penn State, Godwin merely continued his successes. In his Penn State career, he posted 154-catches for 2,421 yards and 18 TDs. During his college years, he was used mostly to run digs and outs, relatively short routes. That led a lot of NFL scouts to think he was not a burner. But he ran a 4.4 forty at the combine, and his play with the Bucs has shown plenty of top-end speed.
Godwin was a key member of the Panther’s offense and finished off his career with the aforementioned stats in the 2017 Rose Bowl.
So, to put it mildly, the Buccaneers got a steal scooping up Godwin in the third round of the draft. His pro career started slowly, sitting behind Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson. But he still managed to make the coaches notice him, pulling in 34 balls for 525 yards and a touchdown, including a long scoring pass down the right sideline to provide the winning margin over the New Orleans Saints.