Getty Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker YaYa Diaby.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to have a roster built on depth and strength — except at one spot.
The Buccaneers need elite edge rushers, according to Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness, and not finding them could be the difference between making the postseason or missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
“The Buccaneers had just one player record 40 or more total pressures in the regular season in 2023, and that was Shaquil Barrett, whom the team released this offseason,” McGuinness wrote in a May 30 story on “one reason each NFC won’t make the playoffs.” “The Bucs’ starting edge defenders are currently slated to be YaYa Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, who wouldn’t have ranked among the top 30 edge defenders in regular-season QB pressures even if you combined their output.”
Young Edge Rushers Need to Step Up for Bucs
There is a glimmer of hope for the Buccaneers when it comes to their edge rushers.
Diaby led Tampa Bay with 7.5 sacks as a rookie in 2023 and could end up being a star. Outside linebacker Tryon-Shoyinka should have plenty of motivation in 2024 after the 2021 first-round pick had his fifth-year option declined by the Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers drafted more edge rusher help in 2024 with second-round pick Chris Braswell (No. 57 overall) after he had a breakout season at Alabama in 2023 with 42 tackles, 10.5 TFL, 8.0 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one blocked kick and one interception returned for a touchdown.
Several free agents remain available, including Emmanuel Ogbah, 30; Yannick Ngakoue, 29; and Carl Lawson, who turns 29 in June. But they might be out of the Bucs’ reach because each made over $10 million last season, and Tampa Bay has only $9.4 million in cap space as of May 31, according to Over the Cap.
Why Did Bucs Release Shaquil Barrett?
If Barrett was Tampa Bay’s most effective pass rusher in 2023, why did the Buccaneers release him?
It seems to boil down to a business decision.
Barrett was released on February 27, before he was due a $15.04 million option bonus in March. According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, the move provided the Buccaneers about $5 million in salary cap relief.
“Did not want to make that call,” Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht said, according to Laine. “At the same time I did — I wanted to give (Barrett) some time here to look for another team if that’s what he wants to do. We can’t officially release him until beginning of the league year, but he actually calmed me down on the call.”
Barrett is one of the most unlikely NFL success stories of all time. He went from going undrafted out of Colorado State in 2014 to a two-time Super Bowl champion, NFL All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler.
Barrett led the NFL with 19.5 sacks in his first year with the Buccaneers in 2019 after getting just 14.0 sacks in his first five seasons with the Denver Broncos. He played under a 1-year, $15.8 million franchise tag with the Buccaneers in 2020 then signed a 4-year, $68 million contract in March 2021.
While Barrett’s QB pressure numbers stayed high, his sacks totals did not — after 37.5 sacks from 2019 to 2021 he had just 7.5 sacks across 2022 and 2023.
Barrett signed a 1-year, $7 million contract with the Miami Dolphins following his release from the Buccaneers.