Former Bucs exterior linebacker Shaq Barrett nonetheless has the hearth to hurry the passer and play soccer at age 31.
And Barrett fired off a shot in Tampa Bay’s path at his preliminary press convention in Miami after signing with the Dolphins in free company.
“I nonetheless received lots to show,” Barrett stated on Monday. “Particularly getting minimize from one other staff. That provides one other entire gas to the hearth proper there. The Dolphins are going to be glad they signed me. Tampa goes to be mad they let me go as a result of this yr that I’m planning on having and the success that we’re about to have as a staff goes to be wonderful.”
Barrett, who turns 32 this fall, suffered a season-ending Achilles harm throughout a disappointing 2022 marketing campaign wherein he had simply three sacks within the first half of the yr earlier than being positioned on injured reserve. Though Barrett made a profitable return to the sector and performed in 16 video games for the Buccaneers final yr, he had simply 4.5 sacks.
Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett and DL Calijah Kancey and Falcons QB Desmond Ridder – Picture by: USA At the moment
That declining manufacturing and the burden of an enormous contract that paid him a mean of $17 million per yr led to the Bucs releasing him this offseason in a wage cap transfer with a June 1 designation.
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, a former first-round decide, and Anthony Nelson are coming into contract years and are anticipated to compete for the correct to switch Barrett and begin reverse YaYa Diaby. The Bucs will probably choose one other edge rusher within the 2024 NFL Draft to extend the expertise on the place and add competitors.
Regardless of the Dolphins having two high quality edge rushers in Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, each are coming off season-ending knee accidents and Barrett was signed for depth. Barrett, who signed a one-year deal value as much as $9 million, was teammates with Chubb in Denver previous to signing with Tampa Bay in 2019.
In his first season with the Bucs, which was on a one-year, prove-it deal value $5 million, Barrett shocked Tampa Bay and the NFL by going from a backup with the Broncos to a bona fide star in 2019. His 19.5 sacks led the league, set a single-season franchise file, and earned him his first Professional Bowl berth.
Shaq Barrett Glad To Keep In Florida, Nonetheless Believes He Can Put Up Massive Sack Numbers
Whereas not able to posting that many sacks once more as he nears age 32, Barrett nonetheless believes he’s able to being a double-digit sacker with the Dolphins.
“Yearly I’ll by no means attain my objectives clearly as a result of my objectives are 23 sacks,” he stated. “I need to break the file yearly. I need to be the very best, top-of-the-line go rushers to do it and I feel getting the sack file would solidify that reality or make you a part of the argument for it, in order that’s what I be attempting to go for yearly.
Bucs OLB Shaq Barrett and Titans QB Will Levis – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
“However I must nonetheless be glad about not reaching that objective and nonetheless having 10 sacks, 12 sacks, or no matter quantity of sacks I might need. However yeah, I all the time set the objectives actually lofty.”
Barrett noticed the writing on the wall with the Bucs final yr and was not shocked he was a wage cap casualty. Tampa Bay was confronted with re-signing a bunch of key gamers this offseason and the staff wanted a few of the cash that was being spent on Barrett to go in direction of maintaining others.
“Relying on if we’re going to be a Tremendous Bowl contender and I performed good, then there was an opportunity I used to be going to remain, but when I performed just like the season I had, I knew they needed to pay folks and I used to be going to be a possible minimize, so I used to be making ready my household for just about the entire yr, actually,” Barrett stated. “After which like as soon as it occurred, it wasn’t a shock in any respect as a result of I used to be making the cash I used to be making then, however then my numbers weren’t supporting the price that I used to be being paid, so I understood that a part of the enterprise, so it wasn’t too exhausting.”
Barrett was relieved to seek out the Dolphins all in favour of his providers. With Miami being simply 4 hours south of Tampa, the flexibility to remain in-state and hold taking part in soccer was too good of a state of affairs for the family-oriented Barrett to go up.
“Transferring my household, that’s normally the exhausting half,” Barrett stated. “However solely happening the highway, we’re going to have the ability to hold our home in Tampa after which they’re going to return journey down right here each different week. So we’re going to make it work. That’s the very best half about it, not having to actually relocate the entire household.”
