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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shouldn’t be happy being perennial NFC South contenders and are being encouraged to make some bold moves that could make them Super Bowl contenders once again.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine listed three things the Buccaneers need to do ahead of 2025 free agency to help the long-term health of the franchise, with one of them being a decision about whether or not to trade wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Godwin is entering the final year of a 3-year, $60 million contract extension he signed before the 2022 season and is coming off his third consecutive season with at least 1,000 receiving yards, but had a career-low 2 touchdowns in 2023.
Tampa Bay has a new offensive coordinator in 2024 with Liam Coen, who spent 2023 as the offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky.
“Part of that might be that (Godwin) was miscast in Dave Canales’ offense,” Ballentine wrote. “He spent more time on the outside when he has traditionally thrived in the slot. The Bucs should wait to see how he fits into Liam Coen’s offense before making a decision on him for next season and beyond. However, it would be best to make that decision by the trade deadline so they could potentially get a valuable draft pick for him in a trade instead of waiting on a compensatory pick in 2026.”
Godwin, Evans One of NFL’s Elite WR Duos
The Buccaneers have had one of the NFL’s elite wide receiver duos over the last decade with Godwin and Mike Evans, who set the NFL record with his 10th consecutive season of over 1,000 receiving yards in 2023 and signed a 2-year, $52 million contract in March 2024.
Godwin has put up big numbers but playing in Evans’ shadow he’s also become one of the NFL’s most underrated wide receivers. He’s also one of the NFL’s most versatile wide receivers, with the ability to play outside and in the slot with equal effectiveness.
The Buccaneers selected Godwin in the third round (No. 84 overall) in the 2017 NFL draft and he earned NFL All-Pro honors and made the Pro Bowl in 2019 with 86 receptions for 1,333 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns despite only playing in 14 games.
Godwin and Evans also have one thing in their careers that would make almost any NFL wide reeiver jealous — they teamed up to win a Super Bowl title following the 2020 season.
Buccaneers Drafted WR in Third Round in 2024
The Buccaneers selected Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft — a player who could eventually replace Godwin.
McMillan (6-foot-1, 197 pounds) and Godwin (6-foot-1, 206 pounds) are almost exactly the same size and have similar skill sets.
McMillan had 79 receptions for 1,098 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns in 2022 but missed five games with injury in 2023, when he had 39 receptions for 526 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns as the Huskies made it to the College Football Playoff national championship game.
“Slot target with good size and production over the last two seasons,” NFL analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation of McMillan. “McMillan is a long-striding field-stretcher who is at his best with momentum routes in a West Coast passing scheme … Teams will need to determine if McMillan was a product of the impressive Washington passing scheme, or if he’s a stand-alone talent outside of UW.”