The New England Patriots entered the NFL offseason with needs up and down the roster, but one of their most glaring holes was obviously at wide receiver.
The Patriots had the worst receiving corps in the league this past year and were surely hoping to land one of the top wide outs on the free-agent market.
However, Tee Higgins was franchise tagged by the Cincinnati Bengals, and Chris Godwin ultimately too less money to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, agreeing to a three-year, $66 million contract with the only NFL team he has ever known.
But just how much more did New England offer Godwin? ESPN's Bill Barnwell has an idea, and you may be stunned at the price.
"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.
That is an awful lot of money for Godwin, who has never really been a No. 1 receiver while playing alongside of Mike Evans and is coming off of major ankle injury that caused him to miss the entire back half of this past season.
But, the Pats are desperate for playmakers, so you can fully understand why they may have been willing to break the bank for Godwin.
The fact that the 29-year-old turned the Patriots down in spite of their valiant efforts is certainly discouraging, but at the same time, it seems like Godwin has really enjoyed his time with the Buccaneers and was planning to stay regardless of who offered him a contract.
New England ultimately signed Mack Hollins to a two-year pact later on Monday, which obviously is not quite the same as landing a top-level receiver.
We'll see how the Pats respond moving forward.
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