The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to win the NFC South last season despite dealing with a number of critical injuries throughout the year, including to both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. While Evans was able to return to the field late in the season after a hamstring injury, Godwin missed the end of the year after breaking his ankle.

The standout slot receiver was a free agent this offseason, and his market was unclear coming into free agency due to the injury recovery. He ended up surprising some people when he took a pay cut to stay with the Buccaneers on a three-year, $66 million contract.

Recently, Godwin confirmed some of his most popular suitors in free agency, via Dan Pompei of The Athletic.

“Four other teams wanted Godwin, with the Patriots and Steelers at the forefront, according to Godwin,” Pompei wrote.

It's well-known that the Patriots offered Godwin more than the Buccaneers did, and the star wideout took significantly less money to stay in Tampa Bay where he has spent his entire career.

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It's also no surprise that the Steelers were looking to pick Godwin up. They eventually traded for DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks to pair with new quarterback Aaron Rodgers and clearly needed an overhaul in the wide receiver room after last season.

Despite the best efforts of those two teams and two others, the Buccaneers are running it back with Godwin, Evans and Baker Mayfield next season. It will be interesting to see how the offense performs in its third straight season with a new offensive coordinator after Liam Coen left to become the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but new OC Josh Grizzard has plenty of talent and tools at his disposal.

Godwin has been ultra-productive during his time in Tampa Bay, and the Bucs will be expecting more of the same from him assuming he is at full strength coming off of the injury. He has racked up 1,000 yards in four of the last six seasons, and the two where he didn't were both cut short by injury.

Last season, he was well on pace to eclipse that number once again, finishing with 576 yards and five touchdowns in just seven games before suffering the injury.