Chris Godwin unfortunately suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Buccaneers star has had his share of dings throughout his career.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised to make yet another deep run in the playoffs during the 2021 season, but they will have to do so without star wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Godwin suffered a knee injury in the team’s Sunday Night Football loss to the New Orleans Saints, one of the most surprising losses of Week 15 NFL action.
According to reports, that knee injury — which was originally thought to be an MCL injury keeping Chris Godwin out for just the regular season — is an ACL injury that will result in season-ending surgery.
Chris Godwin injury history and latest updates
The MRI came back on WR Chris Godwin and its worse than imagined. He’s out for the year with a torn ACL.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 20, 2021
The crazy thing is, Godwin was seen on the sideline trying to run sprints and test his knee to potentially come back in the game after the injury happened.
So what kind of injury history does the impending 2022 free agent have?
Let’s take a look:
2019: Hamstring injury causing him to miss the final two games of the season.
2020: Concussion resulting in one missed game.
2020: Hamstring injury resulting in two missed games after week three.
2021: Torn ACL on December 19
The latest injury is obviously a massive blow for the Buccaneers, but as previously mentioned, Chris Godwin is a free agent in the 2022 offseason and was already playing the 2021 season on the franchise tag.
And this will once again drive players absolutely nuts about the franchise tag. Godwin, at the age of 25, has established himself as one of the best receivers in the NFL. He’s likely going to get a massive multi-year contract despite this injury, but who knows how much it will affect his guaranteed cash.
You just hate to see this kind of injury for any player, much less a young guy who has been so, so good for the Buccaneers like Godwin. Playing on the franchise tag, Godwin racked up 98 receptions for over 1,100 yards this season already with three games left to play.
Will Chris Godwin be on the Buccaneers beyond this season? Where will he sign in free agency?
We saw the Bucs take care of basically their entire roster after winning the Super Bowl, so in all likelihood, we’ll see them take care of this young superstar as well.