When it comes to this offseason, the smart things to do for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost certainly won’t be the popular things to do. This includes trying to jettison a group of veterans who have been fan favorites for a long time.
While the Buccaneers can do some version of addition by subtraction simply by not brining back veteran free agents like wide receiver Mike Evans and linebacker Lavonte David — unless it’s at a greatly reduced rate — a much more difficult move would be trading wide receiver Chris Godwin.
The Buccaneers, for some inexplicable reason, signed Godwin to a 3-year, $66 million contract extension before the 2025 season, and did so coming off a catastrophic leg injury.
As Tampa Bay fell apart with an 8-9 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019, Godwin did little to help them this year with career lows of 33 receptions for 360 yards and 2 touchdowns as he missed a career-high 8 games.
All of that should add up to the Buccaneers trying to trade Godwin, because this might be the last window of time they can sucker another team into taking on his contract.
Godwin Called ‘Top Trade Target’ in AFC North
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine put Godwin at the top of his list of potential trade targets for the Cleveland Browns, where he would be reunited with former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who will be in his first year as the Browns head coach in 2026.
“Chris Godwin would be an interesting fit now that Todd Monken is coming in as head coach,” Ballentine wrote. “He was a big part of Godwin’s early development during his time in Tampa and the Bucs might be willing to deal him after back-to-back years of struggling with injures.”
The most important component here is the team Godwin would be traded to, the Browns, is one of the few teams dumb enough to take on his contract, which would essentially free the Buccaneers up to make a big play in free agency.
For a team in desperate need of defensive help, it might even put them in the hunt for a player like NFL All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
No Evans, No Godwin Equals Shock to System
If you’ve been to a Buccaneers game in the last decade, you’ll have surely noticed that a good portion of the jerseys people wear in the stands either have the name “Godwin” or “Evans” on the back of them — which means not having one or both on the roster in 2026 would certainly be a shock to the system.
The numbers tell us they both should probably be given their walking papers. Over the last 2 seasons, the 2 have combined to miss 30 games while raking in a whopping $86.6 million in cash in that time — an incredible amount of money to pay for such little production.
With a young WR1 on his way up in 2025 first round pick Emeka Egbuka, either one or both of the former Pro Bowlers needs to go elsewhere in 2026, although a much more likely outcome is general manager Jason Licht making sure both Evans and Godwin stay put.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin Called ‘Top Trade Target’ for AFC Doormat