The Bucs could not come to an agreement with wide receiver Chris Godwin on a long-term contract extension. So Tampa Bay used the franchise tag on Godwin once again at the 4:00 p.m. deadline on March 8. Using the franchise tag on Godwin for a second straight year will pay the fifth-year receiver $19,179,600.

The Bucs using the franchise tag on Godwin meant that the team couldn’t use it on cornerback Carlton Davis III. But Pewter Report has learned that Tampa Bay did not plan on using the tag on Davis to begin with. The former second-round pick has battled injuries in each of his four seasons with the Bucs and has yet to play every game in an entire season. Davis has missed a total of 14 games, including seven last year with a quad injury.

Davis also has just six interceptions in four seasons. He recorded his first career interception at the end of his second year. He then posted four in 2020 while helping the Bucs win Super Bowl LV. Last year he had just one interception in 12 games, including two playoff games. Davis dropped several other picks.

Bucs CB Carlton Davis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Given his injury history and questions whether he can be a regular playmaker capable of producing more than one interception per season have given the organization some pause when it comes to his market value. If the Bucs would have used the franchise tag on Davis the team would have paid him $17.287 million in 2022.

That would essentially set the market for Davis at around $17 million when it comes to discussing a long-term contract either this year or next year. That would make Davis the NFL’s fourth highest-paid cornerback right above Buffalo’s Tre’Davious White at $17.25 million per year. New Orleans’ Marshon Lattimore is third at $19.4 million per year. Los Angeles’ Jalen Ramsey is the league’s highest-paid cornerback at $20 million per season.

The Bucs aren’t sure what Davis’ value is, but it’s not around $17 million per year. Tampa Bay will let the market decide what he’s worth. That means the Bucs could lose him in free agency. And given the fact that Davis is widely considered to be the second- or third-best cornerback in free agency behind New England’s J.C. Jackson and perhaps Carolina’s Stephon Gilmore, some team may in fact decide to pay him $17 million or more per season.

Should Davis depart it would create another big hole in Tampa Bay’s starting lineup to fill. It would almost certainly mean the Bucs would have to prioritize drafting a cornerback this year. Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting are entering their contract year and neither is as good as Davis is.