The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on wide receiver ahead of Tuesday's deadline, a move that kept him from free agency and marked his return to the Super Bowl champions.
The "non-exclusive" franchise tag on Godwin means the wide receiver can negotiate with other teams. The Buccaneers retain a right to match any contract offer; should Godwin sign with another team and the offer is not matched, that team must send two first-round draft picks to Tampa Bay.
Head coach Bruce Arians hinted the move could be coming in February while finger-counting the number of marquee players the team stands to lose in free agency.
The move could push pass rusher Shaq Barrett, who was tagged by the Buccaneers last March, into free agency.
Godwin anticipated the move and told the Pat McAfee Show last month: "I want to be here. The goal obviously is to get paid, right? But I'm not stupid.
"I'm not going to put myself in a situation where I'm going to be miserable for some years to come just for a couple extra dollars."
Using the franchise tag to retain Godwin comes at a cost of around $16m for the 2021 season and further tightens the salary cap for the Bucs.
One possible method of relief is a restructured contract for quarterback Tom Brady, who has one year left on the two-year deal he struck with the team in March 2020. Converting his incentives - likely to be earned - and base salary into a bonus could bring a savings of more than $15 million against the 2021 cap, per reports.
Godwin turned 25 in February and pairs with Mike Evans to form one of the top wide receiver duos in the NFL. He had 65 catches for 840 yards in 2020 despite dealing with leg, finger and elbow injuries.
Bucs extend David
A busy day for the Super Bowl champions continued with the news that they had agreed two-year, $25m contract extension with veteran linebacker Lavonte David.
NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that the deal includes three voidable years that reduce his cap hit to $3.5m in 2021 and spread his future cap across a longer term as a means of assisting the Bucs' salary cap situation.
David, who had been due to hit free agency, starred alongside Devin White in his ninth season in the NFL, posting 117 tackles, 1.5 sacks, six pass defenses, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 16 regular-season games.
Barrett now becomes a prime focus for Tampa as they look to retain the NFL's 2019 sack leader, who is eyeing a new long-term deal.