The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are betting big on Baker Mayfield in 2025. They made that abundantly clear during the NFL Draft with their selection of Ohio State standout wide receiver Emeka Egbuka with the 19th overall pick. They were also able to keep veteran wide receiver Chris Godwin around at a discount. PFF‘s Dalton Wasserman trusts that the Buccaneers’ front office has a clear vision for their offense, sending a strong message that they “could be one of the most dangerous in the league if everything clicks.”
Buccaneers Could Have Deepest Receiving Corps in the League
Dalton Wasserman of PFF highlighted one big takeaway for each team following the 2025 NFL Draft, praising Tampa Bay for re-signing Chris Godwin and adding top-tier talent with the selection of Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
“The Buccaneers made one of the most surprising moves of the first round by selecting wide receiver Emeka Egbuka with the 19th overall pick,” writes Wasserman. “Coming off a strong free agency period in which they re-signed Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay has quietly assembled what may be the deepest receiving corps in the NFL. Egbuka and Godwin now join Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, Sterling Shepard and seventh-round pick Tez Johnson in a stacked, versatile group of pass-catchers.”
Wasserman writes that Baker Mayfield will enter this season with “more weapons than ever,” setting up the Bucs’ offense to be “one of the most dangerous in the league if everything clicks.”
Chris Godwin Stayed in Tampa Bay Partially Due to ‘Special Bond’ With Mike Evans
The Buccaneers entered the offseason with questions about their No. 2 wide receiver, Chris Godwin. Godwin missed the final 10 games in 2024 following a brutal ankle dislocation during their Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Based on a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter during The Adam Schefter Podcast, the New England Patriots were willing to pay “$28, $29, $30 million per year for Chris Godwin.”
But, as Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski writes, the Buccaneers “have a special bond in their wide receiver room.”
“I mean, to be honest, I feel like we were really close (to leaving),” Godwin told Sara Walsh and Mike Garafolo on NFL Network’s The Insiders. “When it comes to a situation like that, you have to really, really consider it.”
“But at the end of the day, like I was mentioning in the presser, I have to go based off my gut, I have to go based off my intuition and what I think is going to be best for us in the long run. Being here, where we call home, where we feel the most comfortable, where we can raise our newborn son, I think all those things are big factors for us in making this decision.”
By returning to Tampa Bay, Godwin will continue playing alongside future Hall-0f-Famer Mike Evans, who tied an NFL-record with 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons. He will also have the chance to share snaps with second-year wide receiver Jalen McMillan, who racked up 461 yards and 8 touchdowns across 13 games as a rookie.
Tampa Bay Front Office Spending Big on Wide Receiver Room
Another sign that the Buccaneers looked to send a strong message on improving the receiver room is the price tag. Now, of course, spending big is not always the best indicator of success. Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report omitted the Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions from his list of the top 10 wide receiving rooms in the league. This is despite the fact that all three of them have wide receiver rooms that are in the top 10 most expensive in the league.
The Buccaneers’ wide receiver room will account for $47.9 million next season, as Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis reports. Cincinnati is the only team to commit more money to wide receivers than Tampa Bay for 2025. According to spotrac, most of that money is allocated to three receivers, including $25,538,000 for Mike Evans, $12,938,000 for Chris Godwin and $3,304,133 for rookie Emeka Egbuka.
1. CIN – $55.01M 2. TB – $47.9M 3. TEN – $45.5M 4. MIA – $43.3M 5. WAS – $42.0M 6. CHI – $38.7M 7. IND – $37.0M 8. ATL – $36.0M 9. DET – $33.5M 10. DAL – $33.3M 11. PHI – $31.5M 12. DEN – $30.5M 13. LAR – $28.9M 14. MIN – $27.7M 15. NE – $27.6M
Analyst Sends Strong Message on Buccaneers’ WR Depth