Through seven games of the 2024 NFL season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin was playing like one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, tallying 50 receptions for 576 yards and five touchdowns. Unfortunately, in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens, Godwin suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Now, Godwin is a free agent, so the Buccaneers have a decision to make regarding his future. With plenty of WR-needy teams around the league and Godwin being one of the top free agents at his position, what will his next contract look like?
Predicting Chris Godwin’s Next Contract Ahead of NFL Free Agency
- Potential Contract: $20-25 million per year
- Potential Contract Length: 2-4 years
Hitting free agency after a season-ending injury is tough.
Godwin will be 29 years old when the 2025 season starts, and he entered last year on the back of three straight 1,000-yard seasons. All the signs were there for Godwin to press for a $25+ million-per-year contract, but the injury knocks at least 10% off that in our projections.
Much like with Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins, there is an element of projection with Godwin. Playing alongside Mike Evans has meant that Godwin only averages 4.875 touchdowns per season. He has three seasons with more than five touchdowns, although he was on pace to set a career-high in 2024 with five touchdowns through the first seven games.
Godwin is an extremely reliable receiver who can operate out of the slot. While he does not have the gaudy single-year numbers of Copper Kupp in 2021, Godwin is the more consistent of the two. Entering 2024, he had only missed five games in the previous three seasons. There is a case to be made that Godwin should be matching Kupp’s $26.7 million-per-year AAV.
Godwin has an intriguing choice to make. Does he try playing on a short-term deal in the hope of proving he is 100% healthy in 2025 and then having the chance to earn more next year, or does he take the security of a three- or four-year deal, even if the value is slightly below what we might expect if he had played a full season in 2024?
A smart contract for both sides would be a three- or four-year contract worth a base of $20 million per year, with around $25 million fully guaranteed at signing. Incentives or escalators based on playing time and performance could then push the AAV closer to $25 million a year across the life of the deal.
It remains to be seen if that will be with the Buccaneers or a new team. It’s worth noting that the Bucs pushed the void date of his contract back to March 12 in hopes of working out a long-term deal before free agency gets underway. Godwin is the No. 4-ranked player in PFSN’s Top 100 Free Agent Rankings.
While at the NFL Scouting Combine, Bucs GM Jason Licht raved about Godwin and made it clear that the team wants him back.
“Hopefully, we can come to an agreement with him because Chris means the world to this organization, to all of us individually but as an organization as a whole,” Licht told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Nobody has been more resilient than him.
“We’ve been down this road, a similar path, with him. Nobody has been more resilient and works harder than him, so those are the good things. If I were a betting man, I’d bet on Chris. But the facts are we have to wade through some variables here.”
