TAMPA, Fla. — Free agency has been a puzzle to solve for the Bucs this offseason. There’s an order to the way the pieces fit before you see the big picture.
It’s why the Bucs used the franchise tag on receiver Chris Godwin. It’s why they signed Lavonte David to a team-friendly deal and why they restructured Tom Brady’s contract.
But all those moves happened so the Bucs could interlock the biggest piece of all: outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett. The Bucs secured one of the NFL’s best pass rushers by agreeing to terms with Barrett on a four-year deal worth $72 million that includes $34.5 million guaranteed, the Times confirmed.
The deal will average $17 million per year, which can increase to $18 million due to escalators. Half that $1 million bonus is based on recording 15 sacks; the other half is paid for reaching the playoffs.
Barrett will receive an $18 million signing bonus, which will keep his salary cap figure for 2021 at $5.6 million.
“If it’s meant to be, it will be,” Barrett said on his Instagram account. “It’s something special about this whole organization and I am so excited to be a part of it for (four) more years.”
The agreement was hammered out over a long negotiating session that went overnight Sunday into the pre-dawn hours Monday and reached just as the free-agent negotiating period began at noon. It prevented Barrett from shopping his services and the Bucs’ offer to the rest of the league.
Barrett quickly established himself as one of the league’s premier pass rushers after signing as a one-year, $4 million contract with the Bucs as a Broncos free agent in 2019.
In fact, Barrett’s 111 pressures are most in the NFL over the past two seasons, and he is second in sacks only to the Steelers’ T.J. Watt during that stretch.
After leading the NFL with 19.5 sacks in 2019, Barrett received the Bucs’ franchise tag, worth $15.8 million on a one-year deal. Barrett, who turns 29 in November, made it clear he did not want the tag again in 2020 and waited to ramp up negotiations until the Bucs tagged Godwin instead.
But Barrett has thrived in the Bucs’ system under defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Even though his production fell off in 2020, when he produced eight sacks during the regular season, Barrett was a force in the playoffs.
He sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers three times in the NFC championship win at Green Bay and added another sack of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in helping the Bucs win Super Bowl 55.
Even though the Bucs used a franchise tag on Godwin, guaranteeing him about $16 million on a one-year contract, they carved out enough salary-cap room for Barrett using voidable years on the contracts for David and Brady.
The Bucs re-signed David to a five-year contract that included three voidable years. He will earn $25 million over the next two seasons, but his salary-cap value was only $3.5 million in 2021 due to three voidable years.
Brady reworked his contract and will earn $50 million over the next two seasons but could earn more than $41 million in 2021 while his salary-cap value is lowered to about $9 million.
The Bucs still have several free agents who could begin negotiating with other teams starting Monday. The list includes tight end Rob Gronkowski, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, kicker Ryan Succop, receiver Antonio Brown and running back Leonard Fournette.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians could not have been happier with the job done by general manager Jason Licht, director of football administration Mike Greenberg and director of football research Jacqueline Davidson. He says it’s also just getting started.
“Now finish the rest,” Arians said in a text to the Times. “Jason and his crew are unbelievably good.”
