INDIANAPOLIS -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said Tuesday that wide receiver Chris Godwin "means the world" to the organization and he's hopeful they can come to an agreement on an extension.
"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 said at the NFL 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."
One variable they got out of the way was the automatic void date of Feb. 17 on his 2025 contract. The Bucs and Godwin's agent Tory Dandy agreed to move the date to March 12 to have more time to negotiate a new deal.
But the main variable is that Godwin is coming off a dislocated left ankle that ended his season after Week 7 and required surgery. Licht said it doesn't change how the team views him though. Godwin was also an unrestricted free agent in 2022 when he was recovering from a season-ending torn ACL and MCL.
"There's still some uncertainties but he's progressing," said Licht, who didn't want to commit to a timeline for Godwin's recovery. "He's doing everything he can... We're gonna use as much time as we have to consider options and consider with regards to him, how we construct things or how we do things. That's where we're at right now."
In 2022, the team first franchise tagged Godwin and then used that as a placeholder to strike a three-year deal worth $60 million. Sources told ESPN that the team would not be using the tag on him this time, as it would be his third time being tagged, which would result in a salary 144% of his previous salary.
As it stands, the Bucs will have $9,748,010 in salary cap space in 2025. There are moves the team could potentially make to ease some cap space. For instance, the team is evaluating the contracts of outside cornerback Jamel Dean, who is set to count just over $15 million against the cap in 2025, and safety Jordan Whitehead, who is set to count $4.5 million and whose season ended on injured reserve due to a motor vehicle accident.
The team could also preemptively work new deals with right tackle Luke Goedeke, tight end Cade Otton and cornerback Zyon McCollum despite them still being under contract. Licht said there's "no urgency" on those deals. And they now have some wiggle room with Godwin in terms of time.
"I can't predict what's gonna happen," Licht said. "All I can say is that last year, we were in a position with a lot of players. And I kept saying the same thing, 'They want to be here. We want them.' Hopefully we can work something out."
