
Is Chris Godwin going to be the belle of the free agency ball?
When the free agency feeding frenzy begins, Chris Godwin is likely to be bombarded with offers from around the NFL. With Tee Higgins receiving the franchise tag from the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' wide receiver has catapulted to the top of receiver shopping lists for several teams. He is ranked as the best receiver in The Athletic's top 150 free agent rankings and the No. 3 player overall on the board.
Advertisement
Godwin was leading the league with 50 receptions and heading for a career year before he suffered a season-ending ankle dislocation in Tampa Bay's Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The 29-year-old, who has spent all of his eight seasons with the Buccaneers, looks set to hit free agency for the first time.
On the offensive free agency preview edition of 'The Athletic Football Show,' Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen discussed potential landing spots for Godwin should he hit the market.
A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on YouTube below or in 'The Athletic Football Show' feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Robert: Let's get to the somewhat underwhelming pool of big-ticket items in this free agent class. These are the guys who are going to get paid at the top of the market compared to other players available in this group. That starts with Chris Godwin for me. We just talked about how most of these receivers are at 30 (years old) or over 30 (years old). A lot of them are aging players.
Godwin is still only 29 and coming off what had been a fantastic season before he suffered that dislocated ankle. For the most part with these guys, I want to know what you think of their market and where you think makes the most sense for them. Where would you like to see Godwin at the end of all this?
Derrik: Godwin at this point, with some of the other free agents falling off the board, is kind of going to become the belle of the ball. He had what was maybe the best year of his career last year, or what was starting to before he had the dislocated ankle.
Robert: What was that one year? Was that 2021 when he had that incredible year?
Derrik: He was also fantastic that year (98 receptions for 1,103 receiving yards). This year was different because the yards after the catch were just different than they had ever been for him and he was already fantastic beforehand.
Advertisement
Robert: It was 2019 that he had that ridiculous season — 86 catches for over 1,300 yards (1,333 yards to be exact).
Derrik: It's crazy that he had what was effectively a career year in 2019. And now we're five to six years later and he was having another one in a different style, with a different offense and a different quarterback. He is just the guy that I feel you will get exactly what you're paying for. Obviously, the injury ended his season, but I don't think that's like, 'Oh my God he's coming off an ACL, I don't know what I'm going to get,' type of injury. I think he'll probably be fine.
Robert: He's done this before too. He got hurt in another contract year and was fine coming off of that. He has shown that he can bounce back from this sort of stuff. And again, I don't think it's overly devastating.
Derrik: No, not at all. He makes sense for any team that needs a receiver who's a bit more physical and is going to give you something after the catch. He makes sense for teams like the Houston Texans. He also makes a lot of sense for the Los Angeles Rams. They might try to reshuffle their offensive line and I don't know what they're doing. But if they want to pay for a different receiver instead of Cooper Kupp, Godwin makes a lot of sense. There are some other teams that I'll talk about later and he does have some other destinations that he could go to. He is going to be number one on the market for receivers.
Robert: Now I feel bad because I'm going to spoil it because this is the first team I had thought of regarding where he might make sense, and where he might land. The three teams I had said — two of them you already mentioned. He might make sense in Houston. They don't have a ton of money and they already restructured Nico Collins earlier this week, so we'll see if they do anything other than just cost-cutting stuff. But for the most part, their chips are in. They pushed them in last year. They can make Shaq Mason a post-June 1 cut, but that doesn't give them a lot of cap relief right now so they're playing on the margins here in a way they didn't have to a year ago.
Advertisement
The Rams also make total sense. If you want to drop somebody in that has a skill set that's analogous to what Kupp gives you but is a bit younger and a bit more dynamic, Godwin is exactly that. The one I would love to see because coming off of last year — a coach who knows how to use him, and you think about him connected with the other receivers in that offense and the other receiving options — is Jacksonville with Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr. and Liam Coen. That is something I could get behind because even though he's a slot option, he's a very different slot option than what Christian Kirk is.
Derrik: I love that and that is not the one I had in mind, so you have not spoiled it, I'll have another one later. I would love him in Jacksonville because again there's proof of concept that he can do this very well at a high level in the Coen offense. He's a perfect fit to put next to Thomas Jr. too because they don't do any of the same things. Thomas Jr. is a big vertical threat, explosive and all that stuff. Godwin can do all the dirty work, so it's a perfect pairing to unlock both of them.
Robert: The Rams do make sense, but I wonder if the Rams want to go in a slightly different direction?
Derrik: That's kind of where I'm at with it too.
Robert: Are they going to try to chase somebody more like Matthew Golden in the draft who gives you a bit more verticality to go with Puka Nacua? It's tempting to just do something that feels like a Kupp replacement, but maybe they want to go in a slightly different direction with their offense. The other two teams to me it's easy to picture how he fits there.
Some people are probably going to look at receiver-needy teams that have a lot of cap space like the (New England) Patriots and they're going to try to put Godwin there. Is that something that you'd like to see? Or do you see Godwin more as a complementary piece in an offense that already has what feels like a true No. 1 receiver?
Derrik: If I'm Godwin, even though the Patriots could pay me a bit more, I'm probably at the point where I just want to play for somebody who I feel can win sooner rather than later and I don't know if the Patriots can. I don't know if I love the fit so much with the Patriots because of that. But he's such a good player that if they did it, I'd be like, 'Ultimately this is fine.' However, I just don't know if that's the best use of resources for them.
You can listen to full episodes of The Athletic Football Show for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch on YouTube.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox Sports
36 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Za'Darius Smith: 'Hopefully,' I'm back with the Detroit Lions
Defensive end Za'Darius Smith remains a free agent, but, in the end, he wants to be back with the team that he went to the playoffs with last season, that being the Detroit Lions — who cut him in March. "Hopefully, I can get back to Detroit because the coaching staff and everybody in the front office are great," Smith told USA TODAY Sports. "When I'm there, I feel like a leader and like I can influence the young guys and do great things. Hopefully, I can get back to where I want to be in Detroit." Smith split the 2024 season with the Cleveland Browns and Lions, who acquired him at the NFL trade deadline after suffering myriad defensive injuries, including to star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, a 2023 Pro Bowler. In all, Smith finished the 2024 regular season with a combined nine sacks and 35 combined tackles. Smith ranked 21st among edge defenders in pass-rush grade (76.5), 33rd in overall grade (74.7) and 85th in run-defense grade (62.8) according to Pro Football Focus. Now, should Smith return to Detroit, there are some changes on the coaching side, as the Lions lost defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn — who became the new head coach of the New York Jets — and promoted former linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard to the position. They also have a new defensive line coach in Kacy Rodgers, among many other coaching changes. The 32-year-old Smith, who expressed that he's focused on "getting a ring now and winning a championship," thinks he and Hutchinson could be a special duo off the edge. "I'm still a veteran. He's [Hutchinson] still a young guy. I can help him with a lot of things. He's already great, but as a player, there are some tools that I know that I can help him with," Smith said. "And there are some things as a young guy that he can help me with." Smith, a three-time Pro Bowler, spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens (2015-18), followed by a three-year stint with the Green Bay Packers (2019-21), one season with the Minnesota Vikings (2022) and a season-plus with the Browns before being acquired by the Lions during the 2024 season. Elsewhere, Detroit re-signed defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike, defensive end Marcus Davenport and linebacker Ezekiel Turner to one-year deals apiece, while adding defensive tackle Roy Lopez and selecting Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams with the No. 28 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Last season, the Lions went 15-2 and claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC before losing to the Washington Commanders in the NFC divisional round. Detroit's defense surrendered 244.0 passing yards (30th in the NFL), 98.4 rushing yards (fifth), 342.4 total yards (20th) and 20.1 points (seventh) per game. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience National Football League Detroit Lions Za'Darius Smith recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic

Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Why Jaelan Phillips' injury history has prepared him for a critical 2025 season
The last couple of years have been rather rough for Jaelan Phillips. After a solid, two-year start to his NFL career, the Miami Dolphins edge rusher suffered a ruptured Achilles that prematurely ended his 2023 season in Week 12. Then, after an arduous rehab, Phillips returned at the start of 2024 — only to play four games before safety Jordan Poyer flew into his leg against the Buffalo Bills, tearing his ACL. Most people would have contemplated retirement, succumbing to the sadness of back-to-back major injuries. Phillips, however, isn't most people. The biggest hurdle was 'finding the balance of obviously being locked in, staying on top of the recovery but also giving myself a little bit of grace and a little bit of break,' Phillips said Wednesday. 'Obviously I went through a lot these last couple of years so I felt like I needed to take a little bit of time to kind of regather myself and then it allowed me to come back with a lot more clarity and focus and motivation.' With both the ACL and Achilles healed, Phillips will look to complete his first full season since 2022. The timing, however, cannot be better as 2025 will be a contract year for the five-year veteran. And as much as this could be considered 'put up or shut up' time, Phillips' only worry is what happens between the two lines, a point of praise for coach Mike McDaniel. 'If you can't control injuries, you have to be disciplined enough not to think about it and think about your technique and fundamentals,' McDaniel said Wednesday. 'We have the appropriate person for that challenge in Jaelan Phillips.' Added Phillips: 'I'm definitely just trying to stay focused. That's all you can do — stay present, stay focused. Because obviously, it's a big year and so it's not like I'm going to ignore that fact but at the same time, I can't do anything about six or seven months from now.' Adversity, however, is nothing new to Phillips. In late 2018, the edge rusher medically retired from the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins, citing a plethora of concussions and other injuries. Phillips subsequently transferred to the University of Miami where, following a year off, he returned to the football field in 2020. 'I think I went through a lot and experienced a lot in my time at UCLA and transitioning over to Miami,' Phillips said in Jan. 2022. 'So I think that's really taught me a lot about how I want to carry myself and what impact I want to have on this world. So for me, just understanding that it's way bigger than myself and it's bigger than any on-the-field or off-the-field accomplishment I can do.' The Achilles injury seemed to provide similar clarity as 'it helped me recenter myself as a person.' 'It's just another good reminder of even when you think you've overcome adversity, something's always going to come,' Phillips said, explaining that the rehab gave him the chance to develop 'relationships' that he usually wouldn't be able to due to the intensity of the NFL schedule. 'It's just very humbling, very sobering.' Such a mindset earned him praise from fellow edge rusher Bradley Chubb who rehabbed with Phillips as the former recovered from a devastating knee injury. 'He's a warrior,' edge rusher said. 'I like to surround myself with like-minded people and I feel like I'm a warrior in terms of how I handle adversity and he's the same puts his head down and he might have a bad day or two but it never affected how he approach the work, how he approached the task.' A healthy Phillips could give the Dolphins one of the most elite defensive fronts in football. The trio of edge rushers — Phillips, Chubb and Chop Robinson — combined with defensive tackles Zach Sieler and Kenneth Grant on the inside would be a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators nightmares in 2025, something that certainly has him and coaches alike smiling. 'It would be exciting,' Phillips said. 'Chop has been having a hell of an OTAs. His improvement from last year to this year is so noticeable. It's insane, especially if you know the nitty gritty of it. I'm really proud of Chop and really excited to see how he's going to keep progressing. Obviously Bradley looks great. I feel really good so that's going to be fun.'


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
International player trying out at Broncos mandatory minicamp
International player trying out at Broncos mandatory minicamp The Denver Broncos are taking a look at another Australian-born player. Among the seven players trying out at mandatory minicamp this week is Patrick Murtagh, a 25-year-old tight end who was a decathlete growing up before later switching to Australian rules football. He was rostered by the Gold Coast Football Club from 2020-2022 before joining the NFL's international player pathway program in 2023. Murtagh had a brief stint with the Detroit Lions early in 2023 that was cut short by a medical issue. He then went to training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024, spending the regular season on injured reserve. The Jags waived the tight end this spring. The Broncos (and all 32 NFL teams) are allowed to carry an extra international player on the practice squad during the regular season. So if Denver signs a player like Murtagh and he ends up on the practice squad, he would not count against the 16-player limit. Teams also get an extra active roster spot for an international player during the offseason. Right now, Australian punter Jeremy Crawshaw is the team's designated international player, and he does not count against the 90-man offseason roster limit. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.