Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the NFL’s best — and most expensive — wide receiver duos in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
While Evans received a 2-year, $52 million contract extension from Tampa Bay in March 2024, Godwin is in the final year of a 3-year, $60 million he signed in March 2022 and according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, negotiations on a new deal haven’t started yet.
“The Bucs will want to see how he performs in Liam Coen’s offense moving back to the inside, where Godwin saw a heavy amount of production in Bruce Arians’ offense,” Laine wrote. “Last year in Dave Canales’ offense, Godwin lined up mostly outside and had some very quiet games before moving back inside. Despite the shuffling around and suffering a torn right ACL in Week 15 in 2021, Godwin amassed 1,023 and 1,024 receiving yards in 2022 and 2023.”
Godwin made $15.9 million playing for the Buccaneers on the franchise tag in 2021.
Godwin Has Been One of NFL’s Underrated WRs
Godwin has put up big numbers on the way to big paydays 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.
“He’s an inside guy by nature. He can play outside. But he can make a living inside doing a bunch of things for us. We plan to let him do a lot of things that he does best,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles told ESPN. “He was coming off the injury last year, so I don’t know if he was at full tilt inside or outside. But he looks a lot quicker, a lot lighter, and he’s healthier now.”
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 had 16 receptions for 232 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in the postseason following the 2020 season on the way to Tampa Bay winning the Super Bowl and is on a streak of three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons headed into 2024.
Did Bucs Draft Godwin’s Replacement in ’24?
The Buccaneers selected Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft — a player who could eventually replace Godwin’s production in the lineup.
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.”