Chris Godwin's new deal with Bucs completely locks up Tampa Bay's draft plans and it's painfully clear why
As most imagined, Chris Godwin has an arrangement in place to stay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the two parties reached an agreement on a three-year, $66 million deal that includes $44 million guaranteed.The move follows Ben Bredeson's new deal, which completely locks up the offensive side of the ball. […]
As most imagined, Chris Godwin has an arrangement in place to stay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the two parties reached an agreement on a three-year, $66 million deal that includes $44 million guaranteed.
The move follows Ben Bredeson's new deal, which completely locks up the offensive side of the ball. The Bucs officially have all 11 starters returning from last year.
Therefore, it's painfully clear the Bucs are going to load up on the defensive side of the ball come draft time at the end of April.
They have to. Both on a starting level and in terms of depth. The team added pass rusher Haason Reddick in free agency, but that should give them absolutely no reason to stop loading up. For starters, Reddick himself is a questionable signing and does not guarantee any kind of upgrade regarding the pass rush. He's also on a one-year deal, so there's also no guarantee he'll be part of the Bucs' long-term plans.
At this point, it's bound to be pass rusher or cornerback at No. 19 overall, which is the Bucs' first-round pick. They can't go wrong at either spot. As just mentioned the outside pass rush needs as much legit juice as possible and a long-term plan and the cornerback room needs depth because you simply can't rely on Jamel Dean to play a full season.
The Bucs currently have six picks in the upcoming draft, with four in the top-120 selections. It honestly wouldn't be a bad idea to spend those first four picks on the defensive side of the ball – that's how much help Bowles' unit needs.
Either way, the table is now officially set and the plan is clear: Get the defense back up to par that way the Bucs can challenge for a fifth-straight NFC South title and become one of the top threats in the NFC.
