

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving forward with plans to keep Chris Godwin on their 53-man roster as the wide receiver continues his recovery from a significant ankle injury.
The 29-year-old suffered the injury during a clash with the Baltimore Ravens on October 22, 2024, forced to undergo surgery and consequently ruled out of the remainder of the campaign.
Desmond Watson sidelined Bucs massive 430 pound defensive tackle still not allowed to practice.
While he is unlikely to appear as early as September, the Bucs anticipate he will begin practicing as early as Week 2, marking the first tangible step toward a full return.
The report is according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who reveals the franchise intends to activate Godwin from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list before the start of the regular season.
His absence creates early-season challenges for Tampa Bay‘s receiving corps, which is worsened due to the Jalen McMillan, who suffered what Todd Bowles described as a “severely strained neck” in the team’s preseason matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
McMillan is expected to miss at least the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on September 7, and with the pair sidelined that means they will rely heavily on their veteran All-Pro, Mike Evans, and their rookie first-round draft pick, Emeka Egbuka.
Egbuka, who has shown flashes in preseason action, recorded two catches for 29 yards and scored a five-yard touchdown against Pittsburgh whilst Evans has cleared 1000 receiving yards for the past 11 seasons.
Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers get rid of Godwin?
At the age of 29 and with a serious injury, many could be forgiven for thinking the front office at the Raymond James Stadium could explore trading or even terminating Godwin’s deal to free up a roster spot.
Yet despite the injury, he remains a cornerstone of Tampa Bay‘s offense and earlier in 2025, he signed a three-year, $66 million contract extension that includes $44 million in guaranteed money.
Those protections are unaffected by his pre-existing condition and it shows that he has the backing of the organization behind him, after he had put in three consecutive 1000-yard campaigns before last year’s setback.
At the time of his injury, he was on for a career-defining run of form that had seen him produce 576 yards and five touchdowns through seven weeks. That projects to 1372 yards and 12 touchdowns.
It would have seen him competing to finish as the NFL’s WR3 behind the Cincinnati Bengals‘ Ja’Marr Chase, who led the league with 1708 yards and 17 touchdowns, and the Minnesota Viking‘s Justin Jefferson (1533yds/10TDs).
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open their 2025/26 NFL campaign with a trip to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to take on the Atlanta Falcons in an all-NFC South clash on September 7 from 13:00 ET/10:00 PT.
This news was originally published on this post .
Be the first to leave a comment