While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to be confident that they can get a deal done to keep Chris Godwin on the roster, no one would blame fans for being a little nervous. The nerves likely increased on Monday when the Bengals slapped Tee Higgins with the franchise tag, taking him off the market and making Godwin the top name at the position in free agency.
While Godwin is still one of the top names available at wide receiver this offseason, another big-name just joined him. The Jets released Davante Adams on Tuesday, making him a free agent and perhaps giving the Bucs an easier path to ensuring that Godwin remains in Tampa.
Bucs' odds of keeping Chris Godwin just got better
While Godwin is younger than Adams (29 to Adams' 32), Adams has had better injury luck throughout his career. He missed three games in 2024 but before that, he made it through two full seasons with the Raiders and missed just one game with Green Bay in 2021. In other words, he's been mostly able to avoid the injury bug and teams are going to value that when paying a receiver big money.
Teams will also have to outbid whichever team Aaron Rodgers ends up with for Adams, as it feels like he'll strongly consider joining his favorite quarterback. That helps Godwin remain a realistic option for the Buccaneers and the front office seems pretty optimistic that they'll be able to get a deal done.
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That being said, Godwin is still going to be a hot commodity on the free-agent market. Bucs fans just need to have faith in Jason Licht and he's given them no reason not to believe in him. Just last year, reports made it sound grim when it came to Mike Evans' future in Tampa and lo and behold, he signed a new deal not long after and put together another prolific season.
Adams will take some of the heat off of Godwin from other teams and hopefully, that's enough for Licht to do his thing and get him re-signed.