The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have informed wide receiver Chris Godwin that he will receive the franchise label, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The label will cost Bucs about $ 16.5 million and means they will not be able to label backbacker Shaq Barrett, who earned $ 15.8 million by playing under the franchise title last year. Barrett’s re-labeling in 2021 would have cost Bucs $ 18.96 million – 120% more than they paid last year. Barrett and quarterback Lavonte David will both become free agents.
Bucs will have to make a series of ceiling-saving moves to retain these players, as they only had $ 15 million in salary cap space before labeling Godwin, assuming the salary cap is $ 181 million (NFL did not made the salary cap the official number for 2021).
A draft pick from the third round by the Buccaneers in 2017, Godwin made his way to a full-time starting role in the 2019 season, when he reached the Pro Bowl and established himself as one of the most consistent receivers of leagues.
His 74 percent reception in the last two seasons is the third highest in the NFL, behind only Michael Thomas Saints of the New Orleans and Tyler Lockett of the Seattle Seahawks, and Godwin’s 0.5% drop. in the last two seasons he is among the lowest in the NFL.
In 2019, Godwin finished that season with 1,333 yards – third in the NFL, despite missing the last two games with a hamstring injury.
A hamstring injury, a concussion and a broken finger forced him to miss four games in 2020, but he finished with four touchdowns in the last three games of the regular season and led the team with 232 receiving yards and a touchdown in the postseason while the Bucs won the Super Bowl LV.
Godwin, who turned 25 in February, may not have the speed of the game, but his consistency as a runner and his ability to focus on contested catches allow him to shine. Defender Tom Brady considers Godwin to have “some of the best hands” he has ever seen.
He has 244 receptions for 3,540 meters and 24 touchdowns in 58 games in the regular season of his career.