Rumors continue to swirl about the players around the NFL who have a connection to Tom Brady and their chances of landing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During a recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up, Mike Greenberg asked Adam Schefter about the Odell Beckham Jr. rumors and if he could be a fit for the Bucs if the team opts to let Chris Godwin walk in free agency. Schefter sent a strong message about the chances of Beckham landing with the Buccaneers referring to the idea as “fantasy football.”
“Greeny, we can bring up a lot of options here,” Schefter explained. “The fact of the matter is, in a way to me, a lot of this is fantasy football. The cap is going down. It’s going to be about $181 million, teams are going to have to make hard financial decisions, and while Tampa Bay and Tom Brady might want Odell Beckham Jr. there. Can they fit in his contract? Can they make that work? And I guess you can always try to make due with whatever you want, but I think it’s challenging to fit a wide receiver in at that number on top of everything else they’re trying to get done there.”
Beckham still has three seasons remaining on his five-year, $90 million contract, per Spotrac. The star receiver is slated to make $14.5 million in 2021 which is just slightly less than what Godwin is likely to get paid on the franchise tag. Beckham played in just seven games last season before suffering a torn ACL in October.
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ESPN’s Jeff Darlington Previously Indicated Brady & OBJ Would Like to Play Together
Greenberg was likely referencing a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington discussing how Brady would like to play with Beckham “at some point.” There is no indication Brady is pushing the Bucs to make a trade for Beckham.
“I’m going to say Odell Beckham Jr., and I am going to say that because of the relationship between Tom Brady and Odell fully understanding that this would take a lot to actually make this happen,” Darlington explained on Get Up in February. “Keep in mind, that Tom Brady did not, before the start of this season, pitch [Buccaneers general manager] Jason Licht on the idea of Odell coming down to [Tampa], despite the fact that those guys would like to play together at some point.
The Bucs Are Expected to Use the Franchise Tag on Godwin
As the Buccaneers showed with Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski, the team has been willing to add players hand-picked by Brady. All indications are the Bucs’ top priority at receiver is to re-sign Godwin.
“I say this because I could see going into this offseason with Odell being in a situation where it feels like, perhaps, he’s more expendable to the Browns than he was last year that, perhaps, Jason Licht would take the call,” Darlington added. “But to all these points, I’m also told that they do like where they stand with Chris Godwin, with Mike Evans, with Antonio Brown if they can bring him back. If something changes, though that would be the one that I am watching, Greeny.”
The Bucs are expected to use the franchise tag on Godwin which would keep him with the team for at least another season. NFL Network’s Peter Schrager predicted the Bucs will tag Godwin.
“Bucs… my prediction: —franchise tag Godwin, work like hell to bring back the gang,” Schrager noted on Twitter. “Barrett and David will have a competitive market.”
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