Bucs Given A Chris Godwin Scare In Free Agency Reveal

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to retain the services of Pro Bowl receiver Chris Godwin after it looked like No. 14 was close to being available in free agency.

With talks going right up until the beginning of free agency, there was a thought that if Godwin was to hit the open market, the Buccaners might not have been able to compete with the kind of contracts other teams were throwing around.

But general manager Jason Licht managed to get a three-year, $66 million deal done with $44 guaranteed to keep Godwin in Tampa.

However, in a long-winded statement, Godwin revealed that he was surprisingly close to leaving the franchise while speaking on NFL Insiders with Mike Garafolo and Sara Walsh.

"I mean, to be honest, I feel like we were really close (to leaving)," Godwin said via NFL.com. "When it comes to a situation like that, you have to really, really consider it. Me and (his wife) Mariah, we had some really tough conversations. Had some really tough conversations with my agent. Because at the end of the day, you're trying to figure out what's going to be best for our family. Not everybody would make that decision, and I'm not faulting anybody that would.

"But I have to go based off my gut, I have to go based off my intuition and what I think is going to be best for us in the long run. Being here, where we call home, where we feel the most comfortable, where we can raise our newborn son, I think all those things are big factors for us in making this decision."