Yes, Luke Goedeke Will Get Paid
June 28th, 2025
Lots of Benjamins coming.
Look, there is no doubt in Joe’s eyes that a key member of the Bucs’ offensive line is going to be quite wealthy at some point between now and next March.
Yes, Mike Evans is in a contract year. That’s a big one. Will he even be playing next year? Who knows. Joe doesn’t even think Evans knows.
The second guy who is in a major contract year is right tackle Luke Goedeke. The Bucs have one of the best offensive lines in the game, and the oldest dude is Ben Bredeson at left guard who is 27. Barring injury, these guys are going to be around a while.
That’s why Joe is confident Goedeke will be a richer young man in the coming months. And so too does Aaron Schatz of ESPN. The founder of Football Outsiders (RIP) and creator of DVOA, Schatz typed an article citing what he thinks each team’s final move before training camp should be.
Joe was surprised when Schatz typed the Bucs ought to get Goedeke wrapped up.
Extend right tackle Luke Goedeke
Tristan Wirfs is the anchor of the Tampa Bay offensive line, but Goedeke has been playing very well recently. Last season, he ranked 27th among qualifying tackles in pass block win rate (89.5%) and was above average in run block win rate (75.3%). Goedeke has one year left on his rookie contract, so it would be good for the Bucs to lock him in long term.
So why does Schatz’s take surprise Joe? Well, first, Joe fully agrees with Schatz here. Suggesting re-signing Goedeke, while correct, is low-hanging fruit. Joe likes Schatz’s insight a lot and maybe Joe was hoping for some other insightful analysis than something you’d hear in a bar.
Joe was thinking maybe Schatz would have suggested the Bucs go out and sign the best inside linebacker free agent who is still walking the streets.
Yes, yes, yes, Joe knows SirVocea Dennis’ shoulder problems are allegedly behind him. Still, it wasn’t just Dennis’ shoulder that sidelined him for 17 games in his two seasons in the NFL. Joe just thinks that’s a major leap in faith thinking Dennis will be on the field for, say, 15 games. Forget 17.
And yes, Joe knows the Bucs signed Anthony Walker. The Dolphins, not exactly possessing a stout defense, let the guy walk (to replace him with K.J. Britt) for a reason.
June 28th, 2025 at 8:12 am
Licht has done a great job drafting Luke, Wirfs, Barton, Cody. At some point, it might be impossible to pay all of them what they deserve. Some tough decisions will have to be made down the road.
June 28th, 2025 at 8:13 am
Check out the video of Barton micd up. The Olinemen are tight friends and have fun. They all look beefed up and ready to smash. Luke is our enforcer and will stomp a$$ if anyone messes with his guys, especially Baker. Really excited for this year!
June 28th, 2025 at 8:24 am
Good – he deserves it. Goedeke has improved every season and worked his behind off.
I hope Cody Mauch and Barton are paying attention.
Follow Goedeke’s path and grab your bag…
June 28th, 2025 at 8:52 am
“…Joe knows the Bucs signed Anthony Walker. The Dolphins, not exactly possessing a stout defense, let the guy walk (to replace him with K.J. Britt) for a reason”.
That really puts it in perspective. ILB will make or break the Bucs this year.
June 28th, 2025 at 8:58 am
I don’t think I’d break the bank on him, however. There are 26 other tackles rated higher than him. So basically he’s above average. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:21 am
Bucs should let Goedeke play out his rookie contract.
Luke deserves a raise beyond question. But its still in the team’s best interest to wait and let this year play out.
Goedeke missed FOUR STRAIGHT games with a concussion last season and I honestly can’t ever remember a football player missing that many games from a single concussion before. Certainly not a Bucs player…. That says to me it was a VERY BAD concussion….
Marpet missed 3 straight games from a concussion and retired just 15 months later at the ripe old age of 28 after playing only 7 years in the league…..
Just Sayin…..
June 28th, 2025 at 9:31 am
Consistent pressure on the QB is what will make or break Bucs D this season. having a consistent pass rush is like being a great putter in golf-it covers for mistakes.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:39 am
@ Pick
You make solid points…
Perhaps structuring the deal in a way that protects the Bucs from another Marpet/Jenson type situation would be a good idea.
Limit the guaranteed money so that we can cut him after year 2 if necessary and include incentives for games started.
June 28th, 2025 at 9:39 am
Who is to say that walker even wanted to stay with the Dolphins. He as said many times he wanted to play next to David
June 28th, 2025 at 9:48 am
“#99 the big fella Says:
June 28th, 2025 at 9:39 am
Who is to say that walker even wanted to stay with the Dolphins. He as said many times he wanted to play next to David”
Not only that, but from the sounds of it, Walker is a better fit with what Bowles wants from his ILB. Maybe Britt is a better fit for Miami’s scheme. Dunno. Maybe Miami wants their ILB to be more thump less coverage?
Much ado about nothing.
June 28th, 2025 at 10:15 am
I can’t believe he’s still on his rookie contract, it feels like he’s been here for ten years, I guess all the bit@hing about his play at guard made it feel like forever.
June 28th, 2025 at 10:49 am
If this team wins the SB, it would not surprise me if LVD and Mike Evans retired.
But damn this team is young. The present is good. The future is amazing.
June 28th, 2025 at 11:50 am
Joe, where are you getting your info from?
The Dolphins had the 4th ranked defense in the NFL last year – top 10 in both rushing and passing yards allowed. They held opponents to less than 300 yards in 9 games and were the sole reason why the Dolphins had close to a .500 season while Tua and the offense floundered.
Anthony Walker was part of that, and whatever you think of his reason for signing elsewhere – it wasn’t because he was the member of a rotten unit.
June 28th, 2025 at 12:07 pm
Luke has really improved and I expect him to be even better this year. Last year, he led the Bucs OL in penalties (10 total, 6 pre-snap) and I’m sure he’s looking to improve that.
If Luke wants to be All-Pro, he can look at Lane Johnson at Philly (8, 5) and Penei Sewell at Detroit (5,3)
June 28th, 2025 at 12:10 pm
JimBobBuc Says:
Luke has really improved and I expect him to be even better this year. Last year, he led the Bucs OL in penalties (10 total, 6 pre-snap) and I’m sure he’s looking to improve that.
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I’ve been rewatching games from 2024 and it’s odd to read that Goedke had more penalties than Barton. Both of them will hopefully clean things up in 2025. Especially Barton, who might have had fewer penalties though they seemed to come at worse times.
June 28th, 2025 at 1:03 pm
I’d love to resign Goedeke too, but geez, you can’t sign everyone to a $20 million a year contract any more. But then again, Licht put together a couple of pretty good teams when we were strapped for cap room. And Goedeke seems to be a guy who will always hold himself to the highest standards. He is certainly nothing like Devin White. I hope Winfield isn’t either. Last year wasn’t what I expected for $21 million in cap space.
June 28th, 2025 at 1:11 pm
When I brought up DW45 I decided to see if he was even still in the league. He’s with the Raiders on a one year contract for just over the minimum salary. So much for that $100 million dollar pipe dream.
June 28th, 2025 at 2:38 pm
Fred McNeil Says:
I’d love to resign Goedeke too, but geez, you can’t sign everyone to a $20 million a year contract any more.
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You’d be suprised at how many players are getting $20M per year. There are 100+ players getting $20M APY right now, not even counting another 100+ who do but have void years tacked on to push signing bonus hits to the back end of contracts.
At the rate the salary cap is being pushed up it wouldn’t be that difficult for a team to carry 8 or more players at that level through using the cap normally and adding a few accounting tricks to spread contracts out.
What matters most is whether a team is doing it while they’re in win-now mode. Like they did in 2020, the Bucs have space to reload on contracts again next year for a SB run. They shouldn’t let $ get in the way of getting the best OL money can buy.