Buccaneers: Shaq Barrett should be a Buc for life

The first priority for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 2020 offseason should be re-signing EDGE Shaq Barrett to a long-term extension.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have some extremely important decisions to make during the 2020 offseason.

The Buccaneers will be looking to re-sign several key free-agents, lure talent into Tampa Bay and have a successful draft.

The top priority on the list, though, should be reaching an agreement with EDGE rusher Shaquil Barrett for a long-term extension, essentially making him a ‘Buc for life.’

Barrett recently spoke with Chris Russo and said that he believes staying with the Buccaneers is what’s best for his career.

"“If [other teams offer me more than Tampa, I’m going to look at the places. I’m going to look at what their taxes is compared to Tampa’s. Because I ain’t going to live in L.A. and get taxed crazy,” Barrett said via SB Nation. “I’m not going to take drastically less but I am open to doing what I think is best for my career and I think that would be staying in Tampa.”"

From that statement, two things are clear:

1. The ball is in Tampa Bay’s court.
2. Shaq Barrett is about to become a Buc for life.

Barrett has made his intentions known. He wants to stay in Tampa Bay. He wants to remain with this organization for the long-term. The only thing standing in his way is an extension.

The Buccaneers have an opportunity to sign one of the best defenders in the league- if not the best defender in the league- to a long-term deal and lock him up for potentially a better price.

Obviously, Barrett is still going to get the money he deserves and he’s going to consider all options. But if the Buccaneers give him his market value, there’s no reason to believe that the talented edge-rusher will be anywhere else other than Tampa for the foreseeable future and that’s a good sign for Buccaneers fans.

The free-agency period will start to pick up at the beginning of March and that’s likely when we’ll start to get official word on the Barrett deal. Make sure you check back here on The Pewter Plank for more analysis and updates as we head into the spring.