The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t quite at the point where they need to start a fire sale with their roster, but sitting at 0-3 and with starting quarterback Baker Mayfield out, possibly, for the next month, that moment might not be too far away.
ESPN’s Ben Solak predicts that could make the Buccaneers a mark for other teams—teams actually in playoff contention—to try to pick their roster apart via trades.
In this case, Solak thinks that team could be the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams.
“Despite the fact that the Rams traded almost an entire year’s worth of picks for two players, they’re still in a position at which one more trade makes sense: specifically, for a pass catcher,” Solak wrote on September 29. “So where to look? The Rams aren’t the team that should kick the tires on a discontented first-round pick such as Marvin Harrison Jr. or Quentin Johnston — they need a steady producer who can eat volume if needed … Chris Godwin Jr. might get out of Tampa Bay as the 0-3 Buccaneers pivot to younger players.”
Through Tampa Bay’s 1st 3 games, Godwin has 10 receptions for 111 yards and no touchdowns.
Chris Godwin Became Elite WR With Buccaneers
Godwin, 30, has spent his entire career with the Buccaneers and was 1 of the NFL’s elite wide receivers until a gruesome leg injury in Week 7 of the 2024 regular season — an injury that didn’t prevent the Buccaneers from signing him to a 3-year, $66 million contract before the 2025 season.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon to put Godwin’s big-money deal at the top of his list of the “NFL’s Worst Contracts” for the 2026 season.
Godwin’s contract included $44 million in guaranteed money.
The New England Patriots, on a spending spree for the ages before the 2025 season, reportedly offered Godwin a contract worth more than $90 million that he turned down to stay in Tampa Bay.
“The 30-year-old has failed to play in double-digit games in back-to-back seasons and his productivity when healthy plummeted in 2025,” Gagnon wrote on June 12. “Godwin hasn’t put up 1,200 yards or scored eight touchdowns since 2019, which is also the last time he was a Pro Bowler or All-Pro. His $33.7 million 2026 cap hit ranks No. 1 among wide receivers, and the team would have to bite the bullet on a $16.2 million dead-cap charge to move on in 2027.”
One Injury Wiped Out 2 Seasons for Chris Godwin
It’s not accurate to say Godwin has back-to-back seasons with significant injuries — it’s 1 injury that essentially wiped out 2 seasons, and in his prime at that.
The Buccaneers, for some inexplicable reason, signed Godwin after he suffered a catastrophic leg injury, which cost him the final 10 games of the 2024 regular season and 8 games of the 2025 season.
That’s 18 games — a complete regular season plus 1 — just over the last 2 years alone.
“Between the player reactions, the fact ESPN won’t show a replay and the cart coming out, this appears to be a serious injury for Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo wrote on his official X account after Godwin was injured against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7 of the 2024 regular season. “Awful.”
The most confusing thing about Godwin’s struggles was that he never went on injured reserve to start the 2025 season, which he obviously should have. He returned in Week 4, but wasn’t fully recovered from his 2024 injury, then had to miss another 5 games.
It’s fair to ask some questions now as to what went wrong in what should have been a fairly straightforward process. Questions like: Why did the Buccaneers sign him for so much money before he showed he was going to be able to bounce back from his injury? And what medical advice did the team and Godwin receive, who did they receive it from, and why was it so inaccurate?
Bucs Trade Pitch Sends $66 Million WR Chris Godwin to Super Bowl Contender