As NFL Free Agency nears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans continue to get more and more anxious about what the future holds for Chris Godwin. He’s set to hit the market after years of the Bucs being able to stave that off, and there’s hope that the team will once again find a way to get him to stick around.
Godwin has already been franchise tagged twice by Tampa Bay, and that plus moving the void deadline on his deal means it won’t happens third time. That takes a potential safety net away from the Bucs but it doesn’t mean that a deal won’t get done before it’s too late.
When that ends up being is up in the air.
Unless the Buccaneers can get a deal done in the next few days, teams will be allowed to speak with Godwin starting on Monday. That’s when the legal tampering period opens and the quest for teams around the league to steal him away from Tampa Bay begins.
If the Bucs are going to lose Godwin, it’s pretty clear at this point that they’re going to go down swinging.
All signs continue to point toward Chris Godwin returning to Buccaneers in free agency
Sara Walsh The Insiders on NFL Network and gave Buccaneers fans reason to believe — or at least more reason to hope — that things will turn out alright with Godwin. Nothing seems to be close to getting done, but at every turn we keep hearing how much the Bucs are going to make it hard for him to walk away to another team.
”It’s obviously very alluring for Chris to stay here. This is the only team he’s known, he and Mike Evans have been one of the most productive duos in the NFL. And he like Baker Mayfield, they have a good thing going,” Walsh said. “[The Bucs] are going to try and make it very hard for him to leave.”
Despite his season-ending injury, which could impact when he is available at the start of next season, Godwin is expected to be in high demand. Tee Higgins was franchise tagged by the Bengals earlier in the week which took a top receiver off the board, and despite a trade request by D.K. Metcalf in Seattle, expectations are that Godwin will be at the top of the list.
It’s not just his position group that Godwin is at the top of; he’s a Top 5 free agent in this upcoming class which means the Bucs will have stiff competition in trying to re-sign him. The biggest battle could be against a familiar face, as all indications are that Liam Coen and the Jaguars are going to try and make Godwin an offer he can’t refuse to pair him with Brian Thomas Jr. as top weapons for Trevor Lawrence.
For as much noise as there is about Godwin getting poached, there’s an equal amount of rationale to suggest he’ll want to stay in Tampa Bay. He’s built fantastic relationships in the building, has found a perfect role in one of the highest-powered offenses in the league, and wouldn’t have to learn a new system or a new locker room.
Anything can happen, and nobody would fault Godwin for taking a massive free agent offer somewhere else. There’s no reason to panic, though, and Bucs fans should take a deep breath until we have good reason to believe this situation will break another way.
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