5 free agents the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can’t afford to lose
2. OLB Shaquil Barrett
Barrett had a breakout season in 2019, with a league-leading 19.5 sacks, 37 quarterbacks hits, 58 total tackles (19 tackles for loss) and six forced fumbles. Pro Football Network’s tweet shows some other deeper metrics, and his numbers were very good again this year even with a far lower sack total.
Shaquil Barrett backed up a superb 2019 season with 8 sacks and 41 pressures.
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) January 31, 2021
He blitzed an incredible 124 times, tied for first in the league with 24 hurries, resulting in 9 QB knockdowns. He added 57 combined tackles, including 11 tackles for loss.#GoBucs pic.twitter.com/rC3eAbOHUw
The Buccaneers franchise-tagged Barrett last March, which paid him $15.828 million this season. The price of poker will go up this offseason, and signing him to a multi-year deal seems like a prerequisite absent an ill-conceived second tag. Spotrac has tabbed Barrett’s market value at $19.7 million per year, on a theoretical four-year deal ($78.86 million).
If the Buccaneers wanted Barrett to prove he wasn’t a one-year wonder, and they absolutely should have wanted to see him prove it, he did so with flying colors this year. It won’t be easy to do it on the surface, though there are palatable ways to clear more cap space, but the Buccaneers have to make every effort to keep Barrett in the fold.