Buccaneers Could Make Shocking Trade Before NFL Draft

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers actually trade wide receiver Chris Godwin between now and the NFL Draft later this month?

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports thinks it’s a possibility.

Benjamin supports his case by saying that Godwin is entering the final year of his deal and is slated to make $27.5 million in 2024 and isn’t sure if the Buccaneers would want to pay both him and Mike Evans top dollar next season.

He also calls Godwin a “reliable, if unspectacular, starter.”

The chances of this happening seem very slim.

There has been absolutely no talk of Tampa Bay even considering moving Godwin, which does not come as a surprise given the Bucs’ current status.

The Buccaneers are coming off of a season in which they won the NFC South division title and even routed the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

Tampa Bay then re-signed Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield and linebacker Lavonte David in the offseason. It also slapped a franchise tag on safety Antoine Winfield Sr.

This demonstrates that the Bucs are clearly in win-now mode, which would make a trade of Godwin pretty strange.

It’s not like Godwin had a bad year in 2023, either. He caught 83 passes for 1,024 yards and a couple of touchdowns. He has also posted three straight 1,000-yard campaigns and has done it in four of the last five years, topping out at 1,333 yards back in 2019.

Unless some team comes and blows away the Buccaneers with an offer, they are almost certainly not trading Godwin in the coming weeks.

Now, if Tampa Bay feels out of contention by next season’s trade deadline, perhaps this discussion can then be revisited.