Buccaneers: What’s the over-under on new Shaquil Barrett contract

In sports, everything ends up in a bet. In the spirit of that way of looking at the game, here are some estimations on the new Shaquil Barrett contract.

As we get closer to the start of the beginning of the football season, you know draft day, stomachs start rumbling and pockets start getting heavy. Everyone is looking for someway to keep their betting prowess toned. Sure, you can play the numbers, sure you can hit a casino, but there are more mysterious things to bet on, if you happen to be one of those kind of gamblers. You know, like Al Czervik, from Caddyshack, who calls out Judge Smails T-shot, “I’ll bet you a hundred bucks you slice it into the trees.”

In the sports world, everything seems to end up on the betting lines. Even with fantasy football, some of the leagues and some of the players are in it for the Buc(ks) and not just the excitement of whipping Johnny next door.

And that’s not to say that bookies and betting can’t create problems. Cross sports and look at what it did for Pete Rose. Johnny Hustle, a sure thing Hall of Famer, and now he just has to languish while his world class statistics gather dust. But this story is not about the darker side of this game.

No, this story is about how much you think Shaquil Barrett is going to pull down when the Bucs managers finally get around to paying the man. I mean, what more can you ask of a player?
Shaq came to the Bucs two years ago on a Missouri contract. You know, a Missouri contract, a show me contract.

Barrett had been a backup for years with the Broncos behind all of those other pass rushers, and as often is the case, the back up turns out to be as good, and maybe better, than the starter.

Shaquil Barrett may break the bank with the Buccaneers

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But there was no hole for Barrett to earn a full-time shot on that defensive line. Shaq had to go elsewhere to get his chance. Thank the lucky stars that he found elsewhere right here in Tampa.

While rolling up 19.5 sacks and being the No. 1 sack artist in the league was a pretty good start, good enough to garner the franchise tag to get a second year for a repeat performance, the repeat performance wasn’t quite what the first performance was. Barrett turned his season around in the playoffs. And speaking of the playoffs, Shaq literally mauled the QBs all the way through the Super Bowl.

So, it had to come down to this: how big a check is Mr. Barrett going to take to the bank. I’ll set the over-under at $20 mil per year. And, I’ll put my guess at over.

When you play a year on a Missouri contract, the player deserves some recognition when they perform at the level Shaq did. For that, he got the franchise tag, which, although a notable increase in pocket change, isn’t necessarily the kind of payday that free agency affords.
You can bet that some cap-fat football team is just drooling at the opportunity to steal Shaq from the Bucs. I can name a few, including that Bucs north team, the New England Patriots. But there are plenty more.

So, Barrett needs to get paid. And he needs to get paid commensurate with what one of the top outside linebacker/defensive end players deserve. Sure, there are a lot of players who claim to be edge rushers, but tell the truth now? Not includin Jason Pierre Paul, who else in the entirety of the NFL would you rather have? For me, it’s Shaq.

I expect to see a contract in the $21-23 million per year coming down the highway. After all, Tom Brady just opened up $19 mil in cap space, so the Buccaneers could make something happen to the keep the team together. What better way to commit the dough, sign Shaq.

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