NFL Analyst Projects What Patriots Offered Chris Godwin In Free Agency

Hours before the NFL’s legal tampering period opened, a trusted league insider shared his expectation that the Patriots would “aggressively pursue” both Milton Williams and Chris Godwin.

That proved to be true, but Mike Vrabel and company only were able to convince one of those stars to take his talents to New England.

The Patriots reportedly won the Milton sweepstakes, and they paid a pretty penny to come on top. New England made a similarly aggressive run at Godwin — one report even called it a “full-court press” — but the star wide receiver decided to stick around with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Not long after Godwin made his new commitment to the Bucs, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell projected what the 29-year-old turned down from the Patriots.

“Given that his deal ended up being for three years and $66 million, there’s a reasonable estimate the Patriots were offering the 29-year-old something close to $30 million per season to become their top wideout,” Barnwell wrote.

Barnwell’s projection probably is accurate, as that was roughly the AAV fetched by DK Metcalf in his reported new deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It also would have fallen in line with New England’s strategy of going the extra financial mile to address major needs/add marquee talent.

The Patriots reportedly did agree to terms with a veteran wideout within Monday’s spree, but there still is a lot of work to be done in the receiver room at One Patriot Place.