Extension Season
February 4th, 2020
“Chris, man, Jason Licht did the right thing and paid me early.”
With Bruce Arians now entering a hot-seat season (sorry, but anyone really think Team Glazer will give Arians a third year if he cranks out another 7-9 campaign?), it’s extra important to lock up cornerstone players of the Bucs franchise.
And perhaps the most important Buccaneer without a long-term contract is Pro Bowl receiver Chris Godwin.
Joe finds it funny how some Bucs fans think the team should pony up and pay free agent receiver Breshad Perriman $5 million or more next season while at the same time tell Chris Godwin to sit tight, shutup and accept the $2 million coming his way in 2020, the final year of his rookie deal.
That’s not good business when dealing with a guy in Godwin, possibly an elite player who has busted his ass and thrived since the day he arrived in Tampa.
Also, it’s probably a bad move for the long term. Get Godwin cheaper now by waving guaranteed cash in front of his face, or wait another year until he costs more, is an unrestricted free agent and wants to be paid like a top-5 receiver.
Godwin was a third-round pick in 2017. With incentives, he’s earned around $4 million during his three seasons. When Lavonte David was in a similar boat after the 2014 campaign, general manager Jason Licht tore up David’s rookie deal and gave him a long-term contract.
Fresh news says the Colts already are closing in on a new deal for their 2017 fourth-round pick, franchise running back Marlon Mack, a member of the long list of stud running backs Licht has passed on in the draft.
There’s division at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters on whether it’s wise to extend Godwin now or let him play out his final year.
The Joe typing here believes that if you think 24-year-old Godwin is definitely a guy you want for the next five seasons, then you make him a priority and you don’t worry about whether that means you lose 33-year-old Ndamukong Suh or 29-year-old Cameron Brate in 2020.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:11 am
umm…greenberg where are you…lol
🙂
February 4th, 2020 at 8:19 am
BA is under contract thru 2022 with a team option for 2023 season It’s really not a factor. Chucky, Greg Schiano and Lovie were all fired with multiple years remaining on their contracts. Standard in the NFL is two-year contracts for assistant coaches. And there’s a reason for that.–Joe
February 4th, 2020 at 8:22 am
Don’t think you’re going to get an argument against this extension. Even the most ineffable of all the ineffable dullards that perch their short circuits on this website, agree that Godwin needs to be paid.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:44 am
I’m with the Joe writing this. Godwin is exactly the kind of player that you extend before his rookie contract is up. I’ve heard other Bucs players sing his praises and say that they want to emulate how he goes about his business. Signing him now not only rewards Godwin for his hard work and dedication, but shows other players that behaving this way pays off.
I have 0 issues trading Brate in order to extend Godwin. I would try like he’ll to keep Suh though.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:52 am
i agree with this joe….
GO BUCS!!!!!!
February 4th, 2020 at 8:57 am
Shaq, JPP, Godwin, Suh, then Winston in that order.
February 4th, 2020 at 8:59 am
Godwin is indeed the type of good young core player consistently doing more than asked of him, without any consistent injury flags, that Licht does need to lock up this offseason!
And Brate sucks (now). Stop “trade” junk talk. He’s easily able to be cut before the 3rd day of league year, retrieving all the $6 mill back. His hip still ain’t right, 29, doesn’t block worth a darn. Easy to replace later at a 1/3 of the cost. Stop trying to sadly make friends Licht, or keep draft pick scorecards on retention. Manage the annual roster impartially, objectively. Get the $6 mill back.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:13 am
if winston stays, brate might stay…
if winston’s a goner, brate is outta here too
February 4th, 2020 at 9:16 am
some Bucs fans think the team should pony up and pay free agent receiver Breshad Perriman $5 million or more next season while at the same time tell Chris Godwin to sit tight, shutup and accept the $2 million coming his way in 2020, the final year of his rookie deal.I
Pardon me, Joe…..but I haven’t seen such a post……that person would be ridiculed to no end…….by saying “some” you imply multiple posts…..It’s unlikely that I missed those…..but doubtful as I read every post. First, about a third of all comments don’t make it to the site because of foul language and other factors. Second, Joe takes a ton of Tweets and email, as well. Also, Joe sees fan comments on Facebook and hears them on sports radio–Joe
February 4th, 2020 at 9:27 am
You call him pro bowler Chris Godwin… I call him all pro Chris Godwin.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:29 am
Bama – I second that vote with one change, put a new RT in front of JW.
TBBF – ageed. Drumming up excitement out of thin air. But if it interests Joe he writes about it. It’s blogging not journalism. Still fun though.
In BA I Trust!
February 4th, 2020 at 9:33 am
So…what I’m NOT reading in here is what a reasonable extension might look like?
I’ll wait for Defense Rules to finish drinking his coffee. He’s usually down with providing substantive numbers worth considering.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:45 am
Isn’t it hilarious that Joe thinks 2 years is plenty of time to evaluate a coach on their performance? But a QB with a 28-42 record, 30 ints in a season, and no playoffs in five years needs to be extended long term. Where have you seen Joe call for a long-term extension of Jameis Winston? –Joe Just laughable at best.
The ownership needs to tell Gump that Winston must go. That’s the only way we have a chance to make the playoffs. Time to cut the driftwood.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:48 am
Sport – I think we should get the best available RT with our first pick in the draft if Jameis isn’t overpricing himself.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:54 am
Payment should come like this.
Defensive line
Godwin
Everyone else
Jameis.
Jameis is the weak link here. You never know what will happen until its over and his time should be over. We need a QB we can trust.
Maybe a new guy will lose a couple Jameis could have pulled out, but he won’t give away the ones he should win.
February 4th, 2020 at 9:55 am
“Joe finds it funny how some Bucs fans think the team should pony up and pay …” This is such a straw man argument. Find me one example of someone thinking that we shouldn’t pay godwin but should pay perriman .
What straw man? There are loads of fans who think it would be wise to bring back Perriman and pay Godwin in 2021. –Joe
February 4th, 2020 at 10:22 am
Godwin is the best player…unless it’s ME13 on the offense right now. Pay him like it.
Agree with Bama Rich
Shaq, JPP, Godwin, Suh, then Winston in that order.
The first four are essential!
February 4th, 2020 at 10:35 am
godwin has like a different lens, a different focus for a young man…
barring injury, he should have a stellar career…
it’s like he’s ultra focused, smart and thinks correctly…
all making for a rare combo…
remember when he ran over talib in the rams game…straight fire!
February 4th, 2020 at 11:16 am
You can award Godwin with a contract extension without breaking the bank this season. A modest pay raise this season (say to 4 or 5 million–over double current plan) with guarantees that pay him top-ten money in the subsequent four years (with 3 guaranteed) for example, I think is an acceptable mix of recognition of his contribution now, while not altering our ability to retain important pieces on our defense. Use of signing bonus can even spread some of this year’s compensation over the life of the contract, although I do like that our team is very careful about not over-extending in this manner.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:23 am
Anybody that thinks Perriman is getting signed for $5 million isn’t paying attention. He gets $8 at minimum and maybe as high as $12 million. I’m thinking he settles in around $10.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:37 am
“So…what I’m NOT reading in here is what a reasonable extension might look like?”
I think and I’ve said it before that the Bucs should offer Chris a team friendly 3 year guaranteed contract where he earns $5M in 2020, $10M in 2021 and $15M in 2022.
They might even sweeten the pot with $20M in 2023 and $25M in 2024, non-guaranteed for the last two years.
Chris Godwin, being a team friendly guy might take that deal.
February 4th, 2020 at 11:53 am
What Ghost of Darrell Henderson said^^^
February 4th, 2020 at 12:04 pm
You are right about Godwin, Joe, but I would change your last sentence to “don’t worry about whether that means you lose Jameis “
Suh is a great DT and Brate is needed because OJ has a turnover problem that hopefully he will fix.
February 4th, 2020 at 6:48 pm
If I am Godwin, there’s no way I step on the football field this year with the current contract. I would renegotiate or sit out