{"id":908782,"date":"2026-06-03T10:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/908782\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T10:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T10:30:29","slug":"chris-godwin-ready-to-replace-mike-evans-as-the-leader-of-the-wide-receiver-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/908782\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Godwin ready to replace Mike Evans as the leader of the wide receiver room"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 There\u2019s been a lot of talk this offseason \u2014 and rightly so \u2014 about Mike Evans\u2019 departure from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

Evans leaves behind a legendary legacy in Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Chris Godwin ready to replace Mike Evans as the leader of the wide receiver room<\/p>\n

Chris Godwin ready to replace Mike Evans as the leader of the wide receiver room<\/p>\n

His banner still overlooks practice outside Raymond James Stadium, serving as a reminder of everything he accomplished as a Buccaneer.<\/p>\n

With Evans gone, Chris Godwin has stepped into an even larger leadership role among the team\u2019s young receivers. But when the news first broke, Godwin admits he had a hard time believing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Godwin said. \u201cI texted Bake, \u2018Yo, is this for real?\u2019 He was like, sad face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans\u2019 departure creates a massive void in on-field production, but it also leaves the Buccaneers searching for a new captain. The obvious candidate is Godwin, who is entering his 10th season with the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not too different from what I\u2019ve been doing the last few years,\u201d Godwin said. \u201cI don\u2019t know everything. I learn from them the same way they learn from me. It\u2019s a collaborative effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 30 years old, Godwin says he finally feels healthy again. Since suffering a dislocated ankle in Week 7 of the 2024 season, he has struggled to stay on the field, missing 20 games over the past two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a blessing to be back out here,\u201d Godwin said. \u201cAnytime you have the ability to train for performance and not recovery, it\u2019s a huge difference. I also enjoy being out here with my guys. I found myself, like the Squidward meme, just looking at my friends playing on the outside. I can\u2019t wait to be out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers will begin mandatory minicamp on June 16.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Kyle Burger

For Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kyle Burger, pride in our local teams goes beyond college and the pros. Sports connect us as communities and families. You can connect with Kyle to share your passion for your local athletes below.
.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses frustrated with teen takeover<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses say teen takeovers are now costing them money. On Sunday night, a 17-year-old was injured during a takeover that broke out in gunfire.<\/p>\n

Clearwater Beach businesses frustrated with teen takeover<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 There\u2019s been a lot of talk this offseason \u2014 and rightly so \u2014 about Mike…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2077],"tags":[211,699,7,121723,121724,700,6,704,68749,121725,250,39103,2597,2596,15762,39104],"class_list":["post-908782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-buccaneers","tag-chris-godwin","tag-football","tag-kevin-lewis","tag-kyle-burger","tag-mike-evans","tag-nfl","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-28-sports","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tampa-bay-sports","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabaybuccaneers","tag-wfts","tag-wfts-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116685716013149523","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}