Last year was a strange one for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett. He pulled a Tom Brady by reneging on his retirement and ended up taking the long way back to a spot in the Bucs’ locker room.
He’s had a successful career, one that saw him win a pair of Super Bowls and thrive as one of the best players at his position. If he were to to hang it up again, he’d walk away from the game with nothing to regret.
According to his agent, though, the end of the line isn’t for at least another year. Drew Rosenhaus, one of the most powerful and famous agents in sports, said that Barrett plans on playing next season which now puts the ball in Tampa Bay’s court to make a move.
“He’s definitely going to play this year," Rosenhaus said, via JoeBucsFan.
What notable is that he doesn’t indicate where that might be. Barrett’s deal with the Bucs expired at the end of the season, but all signs seem to point toward him returning to Tampa Bay if continuing his career is truly what he plans on doing.
Buccaneers need to find a way to bring Shaq Barrett back in 2025
Then again, Barrett didn’t start the season the Bucs’ roster last year after he was a cap casualty during the offseason. That kickstarted a strange series of events that led to Barrett retiring, deciding to come back and then getting blocked by the Miami Dolphins from being able to sign elsewhere before ultimately being granted his release.
That move allowed him to return to Tampa Bay, and it might be in the team’s best interest to find a way to bring him back.
Barrett is beloved in the locker room, and beyond being a key piece of a Super Bowl-winning defense back in 2020 he has the ability to help usher in a new era at his position. One of the guys most impacted by Barrett’s release last offseason was Yaya Diaby, who had a fantastic rookie season under the veteran’s wing.
Diaby took another step toward being a star last year, and giving him one more season with Barrett could do wonders. It would also likely be happening adjacent to Lavonte David tutoring a rookie linebacker to take the torch from him, giving the Bucs two rock solid replacements to begin the next chapter with.
It’s all easier said than done, though. Tampa Bay doesn’t have a ton of money to spent although restructuring deals has freed up some wiggle room. Whether or not that’s spent on bringing back a vet like Barrett is yet to be seen, but it makes too much sense to not at least try making it happen.
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