Buccaneers' Chris Godwin Relates Current Contract Talks to His Own Past Experience

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have kicked off training camp, and they're set to prepare for a big year where they hope to reclaim the NFC South crown.

It didn't start out pleasant, though. Two Buccaneers players — quarterback Baker Mayfield and defensive tackle Vita Vea — are unsatisfied with the last year of their respective deals and are looking for extensions.

Mayfield didn't get the extension he wanted after trying to negotiate it before the season, so he's set to play on the last year of his deal without talks. Vea, however, requested a trade and is currently holding in and not participating in camp (or he has a back strain, depending on what you believe).

Wideout Chris Godwin is also technically playing in the last year of his three-year deal he signed in 2025, as his third year is a club option that the team can decline to pick up. But he's been through contract talks before, and he knows what it's like to go through what Mayfield and Vea are.

Chris Godwin Reflects on the 'Business Side' of the NFL

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin (14) works out prior to the game against the Denver Broncos | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Godwin has had some contract woes in Tampa Bay himself. He played the first few years of his rookie deal from 2017-20, and then he was franchise tagged twice in a row in 2021 and 2022.

He and the team eventually came to a deal in the 2022 offseason. But he knows just what it's like to be involved in the business side of things when you want more money from the team that employs you, and he spoke on that during training camp.

"When I first started going through my own contract things after my first year was done, then you get an intro to the actual business side of it," Godwin said. "Again, it can be frustrating, it could be challenging, just because there’s uncertainty and you want security towards yourself and for your family.

"It’s a violent game. We don’t know how long it’ll last. It can mess with you, but if you have good people around you, if you have good leaders in the locker room, people to talk to, then you can navigate it. At the end of that day, if you go out there and you perform, you can have fun with your guys and let the business take care of itself.”

Godwin is set to contend for Tampa Bay's WR1 spot and try to earn the final year of his three-year, $66 million deal in 2026. If he plays well, his option will be picked up for 2027.

If he doesn't? He may be on the business side of the NFL once again in Tampa Bay.

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