“Means the world to this organization” - Bucs GM Jason Licht drops update on Chris Godwin’s future amid recovery from injury

Tampa Bay Buccanneers general manager Jason Licht seems optimistic about retaining wide receiver Chris Godwin. The receiver has been with the Buccanneers for the entirety of his playing career after being drafted by the organization in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

His current deal with Tampa Bay is set to expire on March 12 when the new league year begins. It remains to be seen if the two sides can come to an agreement before that date. However, given that he went down in Week 7 with a season-ending ankle injury, the process is certainly complicated.

Negotiating a new contract coming off a shortened season is never a good position for a player to be in. With that being said, speaking to the media recently, Licht claims Godwin means "the world to this organization" and is hoping the two sides can get a deal done.

“The facts are he had a serious injury, missed a lot of time,” Licht said. “There’s still some uncertainty with any injury like that at this point, so move the void so it gives us more options, more flexibility as it pertains to him. We just gotta make a good decision, but we hopefully can come to an agreement with him because Chris means the world to this organization.”

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Godwin's contract was initially set to void earlier this month, however, he agreed to move the date to go along with the beginning of the new league year, giving both sides more time to negotiate. This shows, at the least, that Godwin would like to remain in Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future.

Will Chris Godwin return to help Tampa Bay take the next step in 2025?

The Tampa Bay Buccanneers are coming off a 2024 season in which the team finished with an overall record of 10-7, winning the NFC South. This feat earned them a place in the NFL playoffs, in which they met the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card round. The Buccanneers were narrowly defeated by the Commanders, 23-20.

Washington, meanwhile, went on to the NFC Championship Game where they were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, Tampa Bay is hoping to build off of their success this past season, making some key moves in the offseason that will prepare them to hopefully make a deeper playoff push in 2025. Whether or not Godwin will remain to take part in that, remains to be seen.