The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to keep Chris Godwin in the right uniform, as the two sides agreed on a three-year deal worth $66 million with $44 million guaranteed. This was a massive win for the Buccaneers considering there were plenty of teams in on Godwin.
Bucs general manager Jason Licht recently revealed that one team wanted Godwin so badly they kept handing the talented wide receiver blank checks to try and convince him to sign with them.
"Well, there were several teams that inquired, but then there was one that just kept writing a blank check," Licht told Tom Krasniqi of 95.3 WDAE. "We got to a point of what we could do in order to keep everything together and add some pieces here and he took it. Like I said, just a man of character, and just like Lavonte [David] and Mike Evans, I pinch myself, we're so fortunate to have him. These guys are the driving forces for why we have such an incredible, incredible locker room."
Chris Godwin proved his loyalty to Bucs in the best possible way
There had been previous reports that Godwin left roughly $20 million on the table by signing with Tampa Bay. It was clear that teams were interested in bringing Godwin in even with his recent injury history but he rewarded the Buccaneers for their loyalty to him all these years.
It'd have been easy for Godwin to have chased the money and Bucs fans would not have blamed him if he did. Considering how violent football is, anytime a player wants to make as much money as possible, it's hard to be mad. Godwin chose to remain with the team that drafted him in the third round eight years ago and hopefully, he spends the rest of his career in Tampa.
Like Licht said, this organization has been fortunate to be able to keep their big stars in town and that shows that the front office has formed a good relationship and that it's a good organization to play for. What a dream Bucs fans are living right now under Licht and company.