Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers LB Shaquil Barrett.
Sometimes, an athlete just knows when it’s time to hang it up.
That was the case for Miami Dolphins linebacker and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL All-Pro and Super Bowl champion Shaquil Barrett on July 20, when he announced his retirement on Instagram. Barrett also won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.
“It’s time for me to hang it up,” Barrett wrote. “It’s been a great ride and I appreciate everything that came with it over the years. I’m ready to shift my full focus to my wife and kids and helping them realize their dreams and catch ’em … (I know) to some it’ll be a surprise but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the decision has never been more clear than it is now.”
Barrett was released in a cost-cutting move by the Buccaneers in March and signed a 1-year, $7 million contract with the Dolphins. He leaves the NFL with $78.1 million in career earnings over 10 seasons.
Barrett: From Undrafted to NFL Superstar
Barrett started his college career at Nebraska-Omaha then transferred to Colorado State after Nebraska-Omaha disbanded its football program in 2010. He was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 after he finished the season with 12.0 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss.
Barrett spent 2014 on the Broncos’ practice squad and active roster but didn’t play any games as an undrafted free agent then made the opening day roster and started 6 games in 2015, including a Super Bowl win over the Carolina Panthers.
Barrett signed a 1-year, $5 million contract with the Buccaneers in 2019 and put together one of the greatest seasons for a pass rusher in NFL history when he led the league with 19.5 sacks on the way to earning NFL All-Pro honors for the only time in his career.
Barrett played on the franchise tag for Tampa Bay in 2020 and helped lead the team to a Super Bowl win and signed a 4-year, $68 million contract with the Buccaneers in March 2021.
Barrett, who will turn 32 years old in November, ends his career with 59 sacks and 22 forced fumbles, along with Tampa Bay franchise records for single-season sacks, single-game sacks (4) and single-game forced fumbles (2).
Buccaneers Hope Young Pass Rushers Step Up
After putting up 10.0 sacks in 2021, Barrett only had 7.5 sacks over the last two seasons — he also missed 9 games in 2022.
That inefficiency — and unavailability — led the Buccaneers to look elsewhere for help with edge rushers. In 2023, that meant rookie linebacker and third-round pick YaYa Diaby, who led Tampa Bay with 7.5 sacks despite playing in only 46 percent of his team’s defensive snaps.
That success comes after a failed attempt to add pass-rushing help with 2021 first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who had his fifth-year option declined in the 2024 offseason. The Buccaneers are also hoping to get a lift from defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, and 2024 second-round pick Chris Braswell, an outside linebacker from Alabama who had 8.0 sacks, 10.0 TFL and led his team with 3 forced fumbles in 2023.
Tampa Bay rookies report to training camp on July 22, followed by the entire team on July 23.