The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed the franchise on veteran wide receiver Chris Godwin on Tuesday, the team announced.
A long-term deal with Tampa Bay could be done before the legal intervention period begins on Monday, the source said, but no contracts will be signed by Tuesday’s 4:00 pm ET deadline. Thus, he will receive 19.18 million dollars. The two sides have been working on a new contract for the past 24 hours, the sources said.
Godwin is tagged for the second year in a row, so he doesn’t get the standard $18.419 million for the wide receiver position. He received $15.98 million last year, and NFL rules require that a player marked for the second year in a row receive a 120 percent increase on his salary over the previous year.
Godwin suffered an ACL tear in Pirates Week 15 in a loss to the New Orleans Saints, ending his season. Even with the injury, he finished the season with the best record on the team, with 1,103 yards and 98 receptions.
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Godwin, who turned 26 in February, underwent surgery to repair the injury during the off-season, and coach Bruce Arians said at an NFL training camp that Godwin had recovered about 40% from his injury and that he was not worried about his ability to bounce back.
“Knowing Chris and how he works – he had a good operation and now these guys are coming back faster and faster – I don’t think that will be a problem at all,” Arians said.
Last year, the Bucs were unable to negotiate a new contract with Godwin, instead labeling him as a $16 million franchise. Over the past three seasons, Godwin has amassed 3,276 receiving yards – eighth in the league in that period – while his 249 throws rank 10th and 21 touchdowns rank 12th.
He has 342 receptions for 4,643 yards and 29 touchdowns in five seasons.