Tampa Bay Bucaneers: Top 3 edge rushers that could replace Shaquil Barrett
The Number 2 option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Leonard Floyd
Leonard Floyd is intriguing because of how dominant he has been for both the Bears and the Rams. What is important to note about Floyd is that he plays really well when he is lined up with some of the league’s most feared defensive linemen.
Floyd has played alongside Khalil Mack when he was in Chicago, and most recently, with Aaron Donald. While he has never been known as the “IT” guy on a defense, Floyd has made a great career out of being the number two guy on the defensive line.
Throughout his career, he has always been paired with generational talent on the D-line, players who have demanded the double team. With teammates that demanded to be double-teamed, Leonard Floyd’s job was to beat his man and apply pressure to the quarterback, something he did with regularity.
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This signing would be a little tricky for the Buccaneers since Floyd is such a high-profile name around the league. In 2020, he signed a one-year deal worth $10 million to be apart of the Rams defense, and all he did was ball out. Floyd played 89.5% of the defensive snaps and registered 55 tackles. He also had 11 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, 19 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.
With as good of a year as Floyd had in 2020, he may demand some pretty big money going forward, maybe too much for Tampa to afford. The one thing on the Buccaneers side is that Floyd doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring yet. If Shaquil Barrett leaves, it will free up a lot of cap space for the Bucs, which could leave enough room to sign Floyd.
The Buccaneers may be able to get Floyd on a three-year, $25 million dollar contract. If they did that, he would take up about $8.3 million in cap space – a lot less than what Barrett will demand.
This is all hypothetical, as Floyd may very likely demand a big contract like Barrett. However, Tampa could make a great pitch to him. The combination of Leonard Floyd and Jason Pierre-Paul would be a nightmare for offensive coordinators to plan for. Maybe the Bucs could get this done if Barrett leaves.