The Pewter Plank
FanSided

Buccaneers: Shaq Barrett could become a franchise legend

By Andrew Boardwine

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: Dennis Daley of Carolina Panthers challenges Shaquil Barrett of Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the NFL match between the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 13, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: Dennis Daley of Carolina Panthers challenges Shaquil Barrett of Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the NFL match between the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 13, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a potential franchise legend on their roster

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the 2020 season as one of the hottest teams in the league and it all has to do with the additions of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski during the offseason.

While Buccaneers fans remain elated over the additions of Brady and Gronkowski, there is one star who has somehow fallen under the radar: Edge-Rusher Shaquil Barrett.

The Buccaneers used the franchise tag on Barrett earlier this spring and, in my opinion, there should be a greater excitement about bringing him back and the potential for him to be in Tampa Bay long-term than there is currently. Why? Because Barrett has the skill to be a franchise legend.

Shaquil Barrett can be a Buccaneers Hall of Famer

Barrett set the franchise record for sacks in a single season with 19.5 during his first year with Tampa Bay. That was an absolute breakout performance considering his first five seasons with the Broncos yielded just 14 sacks total.

Now, many will be a little leery about naming Barrett a future Hall of Famer based on the fact that this was his first season having a Pro-Bowl level performance, but they shouldn’t be. It all has to do with the system and it’s clear that the light came on for Barrett during the 2019 season.

He enters 2020 already No. 18 overall in franchise history for sacks. Barrett will obviously be chasing names like Warren Sapp (77 sacks), Simeon Rice (69.5), Gerald McCoy (54.5) Chidi Ahanotu (34.5) and Brad Culpepper (33) for a little while, but there’s no reason to believe that Barrett couldn’t break inside the top-7 during his second year with the Bucs and have an opportunity to chase that top spot over the course of the next few seasons.

The result? He has the skill and ability to become a franchise legend.

NFL fans are becoming increasingly jealous of the Bucs. dark. Next

Don’t be surprised if Shaq Barrett ends up becoming one of the all-time greats to play in Tampa Bay and that is why it’s absolutely imperative that the Bucs find a way to sign him to a long-term deal when it’s all said and done.

Home/Bucs News