Elite pass rusher Shaq Barrett is returning to Tampa Bay to try and repeat as Super Bowl champ after signing a four-year, $72 million deal, with $36 million guaranteed.
The deal was announced Monday afternoon, almost as soon as free agency officially started, as both sides clearly wanted to get it done.
Now the Bucs can turn their attention elsewhere, with other free agents such as Gronk, Ndamokung Suh, Leonard Fournette, and Ryan Succop, just to name a few. The Bucs and Gronk are expected to be able to agree to a deal, as Gronk came out of retirement specifically to play with his old pal, banana boy Tom Brady, who just signed an extension of his own.
As for the rest, well… it’s all a bit up in the air. Succop is one of my favorite players from last year’s Super Bowl run, as he solidified the kicking position and didn’t manage to lose any games for the Bucs. The last time the Bucs let a solid kicker go, it didn’t exactly turn out very well. Remember that Matt Bryant curse?
So, yeah, it would be smart to avoid letting that happen again, and I don’t think the Bucs are stupid. Tampa Bay has too much invested in these next couple seasons to let the next couple of years be ruined because they couldn’t manage to hold onto Succop. They might let Suh and Fournette go and try to replace them both in the draft, but good kickers are hard to come by. Hopefully the Bucs realize that.
But for now, let’s celebrate the fact that the Bucs will still have Shaq and Jason Pierre-Paul tormenting offensive lines and quarterbacks for the next year.
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This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2021.