TAMPA, Fla. — He was the NFL’s leading receiver through seven games and on pace for a fourth straight 1000-yard season. Then, for the second time in three years, Chris Godwin suffered a season-ending injury.

Once again, he is a free agent. He will turn 29 later this month. But count new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard among the many people in the Bucs organization who want Godwin to return in 2025.

“I love Chris,” Grizzard said Thursday. “And you guys know Chris is as good of a human being and football player as you’re going to be around. He was a huge asset to us last year, being a coach on the field and playing all those different roles.”

Godwin suffered a dislocated ankle in the waning seconds of a Week 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The situation was reminiscent of 2021, when Godwin tore three knee ligaments late in the season.

The Bucs trust Godwin to do everything possible to make a full recovery. He made it back onto the field nine months after his knee injury to start the 2022 opener at Dallas.

There are few players who impressed Grizzard more in his one season in Tampa Bay.

“I don’t think it was a big stride for him, necessarily — he’s been doing it a long time — but Chris Godwin, without having been in this building and just seeing the way he works and the kind of person he is, was amazing,” Grizzard said.

“Just being around him, you can see that kind starting to wear off on the younger guys. (Rookie running back) Bucky Irving works incredibly hard. He’s in here early. You can see that show up on the practice field and on game day.”

Grizzard called Godwin an extension of the coaching staff on the field.

“He understands what we’re trying to get out of concepts, the splits, the motion. When he’s blocking on this concept, who is running the route off this concept,” the coordinator said. “And so he was able to translate that by being in so many different offenses and do it at a high level because of the preparation he put into it.”

Because the Bucs restructured Godwin’s deal to create cap space, he will count as $18.852 million of dead money against the salary cap in 2025, which is a voided year.

In the short term, they could reduce that figure with a new deal. But with the emergence of receiver Jalen McMillan and Mike Evans, who will be 32 in August, entering the final year of a contract that pays him $20.5 million, the Bucs have cause for pause.

Godwin feels like a player who should remain with the Bucs for his entire career. If Grizzard has his way, he may.

“(General manager) Jason (Licht) and (coach) Todd (Bowles), they have a proven track record with the roster here,” Grizzard said. “So, I’m going to let those guys handle that.”

Other key observations from Grizzard’s introduction last week:

Mayfield’s scrambling is a key

You don’t really think of Baker Mayfield, who rushed for a career-high 378 yards and three touchdowns, as a running quarterback. But his ability to extend plays was a huge factor in the Bucs finishing first in the NFL with a 51.1% conversion rate on third down.

“You didn’t necessarily see it as much in the spring and in camp, because he’s so aggressive trying to throw the ball down the field,” Grizzard said. “But when you get into the games and his ability to do that, it moves the sticks. ... A lot of that is him making off-schedule plays and finding guys, and the O-line holding up in protection. That was huge, and that will be huge going forward.”

Mayfield’s clutch play in key situations — “when the game is on the line and you know you need a conversion or you know you need a scramble” — gives his teammates confidence that they can win games, Grizzard said.

Rediscovering the bomb

The Bucs had too many 10- and 12-play drives last season. It’s great for dominating time of possession, but the chance of making a mistake increases with each play.

Grizzard would like the Bucs to strike faster, which means completing more deep passes.

“I do think, moving forward, that is something we’re going to put an emphasis on,” he said. “Not that we didn’t do it last year, but I think we can put even more on trying to create more explosive plays for the same reason we talked about earlier, creating seven- or eight-play drives that could be 12 if you’re not having a 25-yard pass. It’s definitely something that limits the amount of plays in the drive, which is always a good thing.”

Expect more motion

Grizzard spent two seasons in Miami with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, whose offense featured a flurry of deceptive pre-snap motion. The Bucs incorporated a lot of that in their game plans this season. The idea is to provide some eye candy for the defense and potentially get it moving out of position before the snap.

Grizzard said it was a topic of conversation when he interviewed with former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen for the team’s pass coordinator position.

“It’s not just something we do just to motion,” Grizzard said. “All of it has intent, and being with Mike (McDaniel), I did have a belief in that. Sharing that with Liam, Liam’s time with (Rams) coach (Sean) McVay and then our time here, I think we definitely saw the benefits of that, and it’s definitely something we’re going to hang our hat on going forward.”

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