{"id":201530,"date":"2024-11-22T14:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T19:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=201530"},"modified":"2024-11-22T08:43:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T13:43:19","slug":"chris-godwin-free-agent-market-buccaneers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/11\/22\/chris-godwin-free-agent-market-buccaneers\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Suitors Emerge For Buccaneers $60 Million Weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin is one of the biggest names set to test the free agent market. A third-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Penn State product showed promise early before breaking out in 2019 with a 1,300-yard season. Since then, he and Mike Evans have formed one of the best receiver duos in football, helping Tom Brady win the Super Bowl in 2020 and playing a crucial part in Baker Mayfield&#8217;s career revival. Now on the injured reserve and set to reach free agency, Godwin may have played his last snap with the team.<\/p>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/insider\/story\/_\/id\/42330910\/2025-nfl-free-agent-ranking-top-25-buzz-predictions-higgins-darnold\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In a recent article<\/a>, ESPN&#8217;s Jeremy Fowler and Matt Bowen note that &#8220;too many other teams need the production of a high-end receiver in his prime.&#8221; While they note the Buccaneers could outbid the competition for Godwin, it will be hard to pay him, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/08\/26\/2024-fantasy-football-profile-mike-evans\/\" target=\"_self\">Evans, and Mayfield<\/a>. While anyone would be thrilled to have a player like Godwin on their roster, these five teams make the most sense as potential destinations.<\/p>\n<h2>5 Teams That Could Sign Free Agent Chris Godwin<\/h2>\n<h3>Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n<p>The Carolina Panthers will have a new quarterback next year, and they could use another weapon for whoever lines up under center. The young trio of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/01\/16\/2024-nfl-draft-profile-xavier-legette\/\" target=\"_self\">first-round pick Xavier Legette<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/23\/jalen-coker-2024-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_self\">undrafted free agent Jalen Coker,<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/02\/18\/jatavion-sanders-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_self\">fourth-round pick Ja&#8217;Tavion Sanders<\/a> are promising, but this team could use a proven veteran to tie the room together. With Adam Thielen not getting any younger, Chris Godwin could be the perfect free agent signing for a team that needs to make life as easy as possible for their next quarterback.<\/p>\n<h3>New England Patriots<\/h3>\n<p>The Patriots have their long-awaited heir to Tom Brady in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/07\/drake-mayes-dynasty-value-and-health-needs-protected\/\" target=\"_self\">third-overall pick Drake Maye<\/a>. Now, they need to build an adequate supporting cast. Chris Godwin won&#8217;t singlehandedly fix this offense, but he&#8217;s a good step in the right direction. New England has the NFL&#8217;s worst collection of pass-catching talent, as Demario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, and Kayshon Boutte are all best in smaller roles. Maye has already proven he can make the most of a poor situation, so imagine what he could do with a legitimate weapon.<\/p>\n<h3>Los Angeles Chargers<\/h3>\n<p>The Los Angeles Chargers are ahead of schedule, as Justin Herbert and head coach Jim Harbaugh have the team sitting pretty with a 7-3 record and a strong shot at the playoffs. Herbert is in the midst of perhaps the best season of his career, and he&#8217;s doing it without any veteran weapons. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/11\/20\/ladd-mcconkey-chargers-wide-receiver-dynasty-outlook\/\" target=\"_self\">Second-round pick Ladd McConkey<\/a> looks like the real deal and Quentin Johnston could be a solid role player, but this team could use another set of hands. Harbaugh likes to win with the run game, but Godwin&#8217;s ability to line up across the formation could be a key selling point to the reigning college football national champion.<\/p>\n<h3>Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers seem intent on retaining Russell Wilson for another season, which means they should look for another wide receiver. George Pickens is a talented player, but the recently acquired Mike Williams is just a short-term fix. While they might struggle to make the money work, Chris Godwin would be a perfect fit for this offense and his ability to win deep in the slot makes him an ideal fit for Wilson&#8217;s current skillset.<\/p>\n<h3>Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n<p>If the 2024 season proved anything, it&#8217;s that the Dallas Cowboys can&#8217;t afford to sit around and hope to improve. After doing next to nothing in the offseason despite claiming to be &#8220;<a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/jerry-jones-stands-put-on-cowboys-2024-motto-all-in-all-in-all-in\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all-in<\/a>&#8220;, the Cowboys crashed and burned even before Dak Prescott suffered his season-ending injury. Mike McCarthy will not be back in 2025, but the next head coach will need more talent to get the most out of this roster. Chris Godwin is a great player who should complement CeeDee Lamb and give the Cowboys their best groups of receivers since Lamb and Amari Cooper shared the field.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin could test the free agent market and land a massive contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":201531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7642,3465,7661,7331],"class_list":["post-201530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buccaneers","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chris-godwin","tag-panthers-featured","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-news"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}