Adam Schein on bringing Chris Godwin back: Bucs have ‘higher-priority free agents’

Wide receiver Chris Godwin is reportedly expected to be slapped with the team’s franchise tag during the NFL’s tag window which begins today and runs through March 9 before free agency kicks off on March 17. This offseason is a bit different as the Buccaneers will be trying to retain most of their guys from their Super Bowl roster, including Godwin.

But there are many pieces to the Bucs successful Super Bowl puzzle.

That is why NFL.com writer Adam Schein thinks that the Bucs should stay away from Godwin because there are more important guys to focus on.

Now, this is not a free-agent ranker. Chris Godwin is an excellent all-around receiver, a difference maker who’s just about to turn 25. I didn’t put him on the list. Why? The Buccaneers drafted Tyler Johnson last year. Antonio Brown should be back. And Tampa Bay has higher-priority free agents.

One of those higher-priority free agents is edge rusher Shaquil Barrett, who Schein thinks the Bucs need to get a deal done so that Barrett does not get away from them this offseason.

I agreed with Jason Licht franchising Barrett last offseason. After a breakout 19.5-sack 2019 campaign, the Bucs GM wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t. No, Barrett didn’t duplicate that sack total, but he disrupted offenses when it mattered most. Now the man deserves to get paid, a sentiment he rightfully expressed on my SiriusXM radio show a couple weeks back.

Shaq keeps learning and Tampa keeps winning. Make the long-term deal happen, Bucs.

In another tag preview post on NFL.com from Greg Rosenthal where he feels certain players are ‘no-brainers’ to be tagged, he mentions that the Bucs should undoubtedly tag Godwin and that decision should be an “easy” one to make. However, he also acknowledges that if Godwin is retained, Barrett and perhaps even Lavonte David are gone.

This will be an extremely interesting several weeks coming up for Tampa Bay.