Chris Godwin Contract Details, Salary Cap Impact, Bonuses

On Tuesday, March 9, Chris Godwin was franchise tagged by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but what impact does this have on his NFL contract for 2021? Let’s take a look at Godwin’s salary in 2021, his previous contract, and his potential value in terms of finances.

Chris Godwin contract details after franchise tag

With the NFL salary cap for 2021 currently unknown, the exact number in terms of Chris Godwin’s salary on his 2021 contract remains somewhat unknown. However, we can take an educated guess based on where the salary cap expects to land in the coming hours or days.

Spotrac projects Godwin to earn $16 million in 2021, while Over the Cap has his franchise tag valued at $15.8 million. Spotrac bases their numbers on a $185 million base salary cap, while Over the Cap is based on $180.5 million.

All of that money is found in salary, but none is guaranteed until Godwin signs his franchise tag. However, Chris Godwin’s contract will count on the Buccaneers’ 2021 salary cap from today.

How has Chris Godwin performed since being draft and what was his projected contract value entering 2021?

Since his selection out of Penn State in the 2017 NFL Draft, we kept waiting on the player we saw to blossom into the everyday elite asset we saw on film. He struggled to get off the ground in his rookie season, but that is a common occurrence for WRs during their rookie season. He caught 34 of his 55 targets for 525 yards and 1 touchdown.

In his sophomore season, we saw him start to turn the corner, hauling in 59 of 95 targets for 842 yards and a whopping 7 touchdowns. Godwin entered the 2019 season amongst the leaders to breakout, and he did not disappoint.

Thanks to the hyper-aggressive nature of Jameis Winston, Chris Godwin thrived, and his potential value on a second contract grew. In his first year with Bruce Arians as the head coach, Godwin led the team across the board in receiving stats. Playing in 14 games, he caught 86 of his 121 targets for 1,333 yards and 9 touchdowns.  

With Winston now in New Orleans, the question was how would he and Tom Brady work together in 2020? If you were to look at both him and Mike Evans, the sky was the limit for Chris Godwin when it came to a potential second contract. His route tree on short-to-intermediate routes is amongst the best in the NFL. Add in Godwin’s 4.42 40-yard time, and he is a threat on any play. 

Godwin produced while struggling to stay on the field in 2020

The issue for Chris Godwin was not his play in 2020 but staying on the field. Godwin emerged from Week 1 in the league’s concussion protocol, which cost him Week 2. Then a hamstring issue sidelined him for Weeks 4 and 5. And finally, a fractured finger suffered in Week 7 cost him one game.

Additionally, an unexpected challenger for targets added to the team midseason came along, Antonio Brown. Between the injury and Brown’s arrival, Godwin had less than 55 yards three times and more than six targets just twice during Brown’s first five games with the team. All of this looked set to hurt Chris Godwin’s efforts for a monster contract when he hit free agency.

However, Chris Godwin ended the regular season on fire.

In Week 17, Godwin had 5 catches for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Atlanta Falcons. Over the final three games, he had 4 touchdown catches. He finished the year with 65 receptions for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns over 12 games.

Related | Top Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ pending free agents in 2021

Since coming into the NFL, Chris Godwin has been fantastic. Over his last three seasons, Godwin averaged 1,005 yards, 70 receptions on 100 targets, and 7.7 TDs per season. Chris Godwin has more than proven he is worth a big contract in 2021 and beyond.

Entering free agency, Spotrac had Chris Godwin’s next contract valued at $17.2 million per year over four years. Therefore, this actually represents a slight bargain for the Buccaneers when focusing on 2021. With the Buccaneers Super Bowl window wide open, this decision makes plenty of sense in Tampa.

How did Godwin’s rookie salary shape up?

After being selected in the third round out of Penn State, wide receiver Chris Godwin signed a four-year contract worth $3.3 million. Godwin received just $792,164 in signing bonus, which was also the only guaranteed portion of the deal. Over the course of the four years, Godwin’s average salary came out to $821,041.