The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be looking to bring EDGE Shaquil Barrett back this offseason. Here’s a look at his potential market value.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Arians has made it clear the organization’s top priority in the 2020 offseason will be re-sign as many players as possible from that 2019 front-seven.
The top name among that list of Buccaneers free-agents? Shaquil Barrett.
Barrett led the NFL in sacks last season and set all kinds of franchise records during 2019. He finished the year with 58 tackles, 19.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. In addition to the 19.5 sacks, Barrett had 37 QB hits.
The dominance that Barrett showed as an edge-rusher was absolutely uncanny and should’ve earned him the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, without a doubt.
As the Buccaneers look to bring Barrett back- likely on a long-term deal- here’s a look at his potential market value.
Free Agent Market Value: Shaq Barrett
When looking at some of the other edge-rushers from around the league, Khalil Mack is currently the highest-paid at $23.5 million per year ($141 million total value).
Demarcus Lawrence ($21 million), Frank Clark ($20.8 million), Von Miller ($19.1 million), Trey Flowers ($18 million), Cameron Jordan ($17.5 million), Dee Ford ($17 million) and Olivier Vernon ($17 million) follow Mack in terms of ‘per year’ revenue for edge-rushers.
When looking at the value that Barrett brings to Tampa Bay in that system and his production in 2019, the Buccaneers are easily going to shell out over $18 million per year and potentially upwards of $20 million to re-sign Barrett.
Tampa Bay doesn’t necessarily have to offer a 5-year or 6-year deal, but the Buccaneers will likely look to lock him up long-term with at least a 3-year deal.
If the Buccaneers elected to move on from Jameis Winston , Tampa Bay could potentially use the franchise tag on Barrett as a way to save some cap space, which would be estimated at $16.27 million for a linebacker. That would give the organization a longer period to get an extension done and a little more ‘wiggle room’ in 2019.
Though the Buccaneers have plenty of cap space coming into this offseason, it’s easy to see how that money will go quickly. That’s why the organization has to make smart decisions on who to bring back and who to part ways with.
While there may be cap concerns, the Buccaneers would be making a mistake to not bring back Shaq Barrett.