The Tampa Bay Pirates put their mark of excellence on a veteran wide receiver Chris Goodwin On Tuesday, the team announced.
A source said a long-term deal with Tampa Bay could be completed before the legal manipulation period begins on Monday, but no contract will be in place by the 4 p.m. ET deadline on Tuesday. As such, he will receive $19.18 million. Sources said that the two sides were working on concluding a new contract during the past 24 hours.
Godwin is being flagged for the second year in a row, which is why he didn’t earn the record $18.419 million for the recipient position. He was flagged for $15.98 million last year, and NFL rules state that a player flagged for the second year in a row receives a 120% increase in their salary over the previous year.
Goodwin suffered a torn ACL in Week 15 of the Buccaneers’ loss to the New Orleans Saints, ending his season. Even with the injury, he finished the season with captain 1,103 yards and 98 receptions.
Goodwin, who turned 26 in February, underwent off-season surgery to repair the injury, and NFL coach Bruce Arians said Goodwin has healed about 40% of his injury and that he has no concerns about his ability to recover.
“Knowing Chris and the way he’s doing — he’s had good surgery, and these guys are coming back faster and faster now — I don’t think that’s going to be an issue at all,” Arianes said.
Last year, the Bucs were unable to come to an agreement on a new contract with Godwin, and instead put the franchise tag, valued at $16 million, on it. Over the past three seasons, Goodwin has racked up 3,276 yards — the eighth most in the league in that period — while his 249 team finished 10th and 21 touchdowns 12th.
He has 342 receptions for 4,643 yards and 29 touchdowns in five seasons.
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