Buccaneers' Luke Goedeke addresses uncertain future amid contract year

Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle and 2022 second-round draft pick Luke Goedeke is on track to enter the upcoming season in a contract year. 

During a recent appearance on Tampa Bay sports radio station WDAE, Goedeke addressed a future that is filled with some uncertainty this summer. 

"It’s definitely on the back of my mind," Goedeke said about his contract situation, as shared by the JoeBucsFan website. "[Life-changing] it is. Yeah, me and my agent, we’re ready to work through a deal. The ball’s kind of in the team’s court at this point."

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht may have numerous reasons to want to lock Goedeke down via a multiyear extension before the regular season gets underway. Back in May, Zoltan Buday noted that Pro Football Focus has Goedeke as the league's 29th-best tackle for the 2025 campaign. 

"The former second-round pick endured a rough rookie season in 2022 but made one of the biggest improvements in the NFL when he ranked 27th among all offensive tackles with a 73.4 PFF overall grade in 2023," Buday wrote. "Goedeke has been nothing if not consistent since then, as he replicated his performance in 2024 with a 74.2 PFF overall grade, which once again ranked 27th at the position. The 3.2 percent pressure rate he allowed was the best clip of his career by a significant margin."

Goedeke made 13 starts for a Buccaneers offensive line that helped quarterback Baker Mayfield post the best regular-season numbers, to date, of his career. That said, Goedeke missed four games during the 2024 campaign because of a concussion. 

Meanwhile, Green Bay Packers offensive tackle Zach Tom and Kolton Miller of the Las Vegas Raiders recently agreed to big-money deals. Those contracts show that waiting to pay Goedeke could ultimately make him more expensive for the Buccaneers. 

"I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks that could hurt the team whatsoever," Goedeke said about attempting to improve following his performances last season. "I want my body always in [the] best physical form. In the offseason, I usually take a week-and-a-half break, and I’ll usually get body work in that time. If a day goes by where I’m not doing something, I feel like I’m getting worse. So I always have the adage, 'Either I’m getting better or I’m getting worse.'"

As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings tied for seventh among the betting favorites at +1300 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LX. Waiting to see if Goedeke can help Tampa Bay emerge as the conference's best team could prove to be a costly mistake for Licht.