
Tampa Bay locks one of its prized receivers in for three more years—and creates additional cap space in the process.
What has been a week of good news for the Bucs got even better on Wednesday night, as they reportedly reached an agreement on a contract extension for wide receiver Chris Godwin.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted the news before following up with the terms: three years for $60 million, with $40 million guaranteed.
3 years, $60mil with $40mil fully guaranteed at signing. He will be free agent again at age 29 https://t.co/gjXkVYMxkQ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2022
There was a lot of disappointment last week when Tampa Bay elected to use the franchise tag on Godwin for the second straight season, but the hope all along was that the team would be able to reach a longer-term deal with its 2017 third-round pick. Now, as The Athletic’s Greg Auman tweeted, the Bucs get some cap relief. The deal is structured with void years, meaning the 26-year-old’s cap hit for 2022 is just $5 million instead of $19.2 million.
Bucs have void years added onto Chris Godwin’s three-year, $60 million deal, so his initial cap number for 2022 is just $5 million.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 17, 2022
With their newfound cap space, the Bucs should be able to push some of their other previously reported deals through soon enough.
It’s not the longest of long-term contracts for Godwin, but it’s more security for him than a one-year franchise tag would’ve been—especially given that he’s recovering from a torn ACL suffered back in December. Barring any further extensions, Godwin will hit free agency again at 29 years old.