Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Do not overpay Chris Godwin

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have until the July 15th deadline to sign their franchise-tagged player, in this case, wide receiver Chris Godwin, to a long-term deal, or they’ll have to wait until next offseason. The thing is, there is absolutely no reason for the Buccaneers to rush, or ultimately, overpay Godwin.

With the NFL being the passing-dominant league it is, the feeling is that in order to succeed a team needs a superstar quarterback and stud receivers for him to get the ball to. However, this frame of thinking has become somewhat mythical when it comes to receivers, especially in the Buccaneers’ case.

For starters, Tom Brady is the quarterback of the Buccaneers. That in itself should prove alone that the Buccaneers shouldn’t overvalue the position, since Brady has made a GOAT-worthy career out of throwing to middle-of-the-pack to above-average wide receivers.

While the Buccaneers were able to bring back all 22 starters from their Super Bowl team, that won’t last forever or become the norm. From a salary perspective, the restructures were a way of “kicking the can down the road” if you will. They also will have another plethora of free agents after to try and bring back. Paying big money to Godwin would hinder the Buccaneers’ chances of keeping the rest of their championship nucleus intact at more important positions, like on the defense for example.

Some of you may still need convincing. Most people understand that big money runningbacks don’t equate to wins since they get beat up and their contracts eat up salary. Well, the same also goes for receivers. Simply put, stud wide receivers don’t win Super Bowls. Sure, Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill, who are the best receivers to win the last two Super Bowls, are awesome, but would they really be as great without their out-of-this-world quarterback play?

Take this stat into account. Do you dear reader know who the last Hall of Fame wide receiver to win a Super Bowl is? The answer is Issac Bruce with the 1999 Rams, and he was only inducted last year. Before that, you have to go back to Michael Irvin with the 1995 Dallas Cowboys.

Simply put, the Buccaneers can’t afford to overpay for Chris Godwin. Per the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, there is nothing imminent as far as the extension goes as it pertains to the deadline for franchise-tagged players. That is perfectly fine. The team has a lot of young, hungry potential replacements that can potentially step up. Besides, a deal may come this week or next offseason, or not at all. Whatever the case is, the Buccaneers can’t afford to overpay this receiver. The position isn’t worth it. The important thing here is the Bucs have Godwin for 2021 and have a great shot at succeeding in their quest of “going for two” as Super Bowl champs.