Shaq Barrett: I Can Be The Top Edge Rusher In The NFL
March 22nd, 2024
Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett, now playing for the Dolphins, continues to talk big after the Bucs kicked him out of One Buc Palace and his fat contract a few weeks ago.
That’s sounds harsh, but it’s NFL reality. Shaq talked about it recently, and he went bold again talking to The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio yesterday.
“I think I can still be top-10, top-5, top-2, top-1 edge rusher in the league,” Shaq said, “as long as I’m healthy, and I got like a full offseason now to train and get right — and make sure to get into this playbook so I won’t have so second guess anything — just read and react.”
Shaq said the Bucs firing him didn’t make him mad — “no animosity” — but Shaq said it did light a new fire in him.
“They obviously don’t think I can play up to the capabilities of what they were paying me to play up to,” he said of the Bucs, adding “I’m settin’ my bar really high.”
Joe is rooting for Shaq, but man, it will get ugly around Tampa if Shaq has a big year and Bucs fans are throwing ashtrays at windows because Joe Tryon-Shoyinka struggles to shed block after block.
Shaq acknowledged that he fell way short of his goals last season, but he still feels he played well, felt healthy and the stats didn’t tell the full story of his game.
Here is the clip of Shaq Barrett telling me he thought he was going to land with the Jets and then the Dolphins came out of nowhere and signed him last second. @CBSSportsRadio @560WQAM @WFAN660 https://t.co/4wte48xh1d pic.twitter.com/LDidrvABLY
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) March 22, 2024
March 22nd, 2024 at 5:40 pm
Neither did the dolphins. You got a one yr prove it deal
March 22nd, 2024 at 5:50 pm
JTS is the Bucs fans punching bag, and he had more sacks than Shaq. I love Shaq, but you have to do it on the field.
March 22nd, 2024 at 5:55 pm
Almost every other NFL team would have also let Shaq go given the big contract and low performance. The Bucs didn’t do anything they shouldn’t have.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:04 pm
his performance was going steadily downhill well before the achilles
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:05 pm
I wish Shaq the best, but it’s business. The Bucs did what they needed to do.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:06 pm
It would not surprise me. Get it Shaq.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:11 pm
I remember reading here that it was one of the hardest things JL had to do when letting Shaq go. Shaq and his family have gone through a lot with losing a child and it’s a pain that will never go away. I wish him all the best in Miami. It may be good for him. And who knows he could be back in another year.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:15 pm
Hey, you guys probably havent heard this before,
But it TAKES TWO YEARS to recover from an achilles.
But
Sometimes, you never recover. Achilles injuries have ended alot of careers
Add the unfathomable grief of losing a child,
Yeah. Shaq had alot to overcome.
I wish him the best
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:18 pm
Rooting for Shaqs individual success!
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:22 pm
Go for it Shaq!
I will be cheering for you unless you are playing the Bucs…
But seriously bro – I will eat one of my couch cushions if you lead the NFL in sacks ever again.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:24 pm
Love Shaq. Wish nothing but the best for him and his family.
Shaq’s MO every preseason is the same as this though. After the super bowl season he said he was gunning for DPOY…possibly even MVP of the league (didn’t reach double digit sacks). Next year, feeling his best, gonna get back to leading the league in sacks (injured, wasn’t on pace for double digit sacks). Last year, fully recovered, back to my old self (worst year production wise as a buc).
I want him to achieve his goals. But based on the past 3 years of results you can’t put any weight into what he says are his goals or expectations in the offseason.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:32 pm
Shaq will bounce back. He’s a good pass rusher.
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:39 pm
Prove it Shaq…
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:42 pm
Great guy….good Buc…..good luck…
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:57 pm
Can and will are extremely For apart. Shaq is toast. I can run for president will I win. I can jump off a building because I think I can fly will I? It’s kind of dumb reasoning but you get the point..I hope
March 22nd, 2024 at 6:58 pm
We couldn’t afford to keep him with his impending 16 million bonus. So, good luck. I seriously doubt you’ll be the top edge rusher in the league, but whatever.
March 22nd, 2024 at 7:22 pm
Good luck to Shaq. He has been through a lot and I wish him the best! Time to move on….
March 22nd, 2024 at 7:55 pm
Wish we could have reached an understanding whereby he would have agreed to cancel his contract and stayed for what the Dolphins offered. He is just such a great guy. I still get a kick out of his interview after the Super Bowl, when he revealed his trash talk with the waitress who was playing OT, saying they wouldn’t let him on the airplane, he’d have to take a train home. Beautiful stuff.
Thanks for being so good to the Bucs, Shaq.
March 22nd, 2024 at 7:56 pm
With the AFC East having at least 3 teams competing for the Division Title / Playoffs this season Shaq might prove to be an important part to their success.
Based on Miami’s schedule he may also play a big part of hanging an important loss on an NFC West team or even Green Bay that will enable the Bucs to make the dance should a Wild Card spot be Tampa’s only possibility.
Could be the best thing for both the Bucs and Shaq may end up being true.
March 22nd, 2024 at 7:59 pm
In sports a lot of times guys don’t realize when it is over.
March 22nd, 2024 at 8:09 pm
Mike Evans (Texas A&M) vs Lavonte David (Nebraska) in NCAA matchup right now!
Two future HOFers!! Love it… Go Bucs!!!!!!
March 22nd, 2024 at 8:32 pm
I’d love to see Shaq Barrett regain his form, he’s had a tough go of things. We should all be routing for his success.
March 22nd, 2024 at 8:33 pm
Rooting
March 22nd, 2024 at 8:43 pm
Wish him the best but recent history suggests he is all talk and no action. Honestly, two of the easiest, no brainer cuts for the Bucs this offseason were Shaq and Devin White. They both were overpaid for what they produced and both have egos far bigger than their performance.
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:02 pm
Are Phillips and Chubb still in Miami? Hopefully Shaq will be top-3 on his own team.
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:03 pm
He is confident in himself nothing wrong with that. Wish him nothing but success he certainly deserves it he is such a good guy.
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:19 pm
Belicheat type move. Better to get rid of them a year too early than a year too late lol. It was time he had a good run but we needed that capital. we know he can play but no we didn’t think he could at the price he cost. His story is why you draft your own and pay your own. Bucs had to bring back whitehead. Licht keeps his guys
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:48 pm
Is a good one that will hurt you for sure got to have a defense
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:53 pm
Shaq’s ego is fine. It’s the injury and Father Time is undefeated.
March 22nd, 2024 at 9:57 pm
Same guy said he was going to be dpoy and ended up on ir
March 22nd, 2024 at 10:07 pm
Shaq was still the most impactful pass rusher last season, but that doesn’t mean much on a team as bad at rushing the passer.
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:01 pm
What Capt Tim said
^^mtn^^
Since ’76
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:02 pm
Unless Shaq Barrett were willing to take a significant reduction in salary I doubt any Bucs fans will be throwing ash trays at their television screens because of shaq barrett getting double digit sacks for the dolphins and @joe in Michigan the only reason JTS sorry weak soft useless as got more sacks than Shaw Barrett this year was either because he didn’t have to shed a block or from our secondary forcing the quarterback to hold on to the ball for longer than 5 seconds
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:02 pm
shaq should go have a cuban sandwich…and quietly think to himself while drinking a lime jarritos bottled soda…………
March 22nd, 2024 at 11:05 pm
but we do love shaq tho
March 23rd, 2024 at 12:00 am
The whining and complaining about edge rushers is so sappy jock sniff weird. Let the GM you put in the ring of honor do his job and stop crying about the fact he has failed miserably in drafting high round football players to play on the defensive line.
Every single time you cry like baby it reminds the fans how incredibly ineffective JTS and Logan Hall have been for this football team that claims to be relevant.
Stop crying.
Let the GM succeed or fail. Your tears typed on these pages about it will not make a bit of difference
March 23rd, 2024 at 7:35 am
Sometimes, getting rejected and moving to a different team
puts a fire in a player and he has a great season.
Good Luck Shaq.
March 23rd, 2024 at 8:04 am
As much as his jaws flap, he is probably the most popular guy in the locker room. One trick pony he was.
March 23rd, 2024 at 8:18 am
I remember Shaq talking big and saying similar things about leading the league in sacks again prior to the 2022 season…
Then he put up 3 sacks in 8 games before injuring his achilles.
I love the guy and not trying to rag on him… wish Shaq and his family all the best
Just pointing out that we’ve heard this kind of big talk that wasn’t backed up before from Barrett.
In retrospect – it would have been a lot smarter of Licht to franchise tag Barrett for a 2nd time in 2021 instead of signing 29 y.o. Shaq to the big 4 year deal that turned into a lot of lost $ for the Bucs….
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:15 am
Other than his bank breaking 19.5 sack season, Shaq has only ONE other double digit sack season ( 2021 – 10). Compare to S. Rice who had EIGHT double digit sack seasons. By no means does Shaq reign as a buccaneer sack king.
Imo, he has always been over rated. Sure he plenty of stat padding multiple sack days, but I never felt confident that he was going to save the day with the game still on the line. He either owned his opponent for the day or was lost on the stat sheet. Yet, he gets more passes than our 2023 TEs.
Also, I find it annoying when the big contract players mail it in after getting paid, then suddenly have a “fire lit” when cut, like they’ve been wrong after earn 90 mil for more average than exceptional yrs. Great, glad he’s finally motivated to earn his keep. I only wish they had traded him when he still had some value.
March 23rd, 2024 at 11:18 am
If Shaq rushed the edge as well as he talks he’d still be in Tampa.
March 23rd, 2024 at 12:26 pm
Performance didn’t match up to his pay. It’s as simple as that.
With that said, I was really hoping we would resign him for a lower amount, but there’s prob too many feeling involved for that to happen. Miami isn’t laying him that much for 1 year, I’m sure we could have afforded the same.
March 23rd, 2024 at 5:54 pm
I really wish the best for Shaq, he is another stand up guy from the Licht team. I hope he balls out in Miami gets double digit sacks then comes back to Tampa on a one year deal or two. I wonder if he feels the same, he did talk a lot in that interview about his family staying in Tampa and keeping their school and nanny. He also intimated that it was only a one year deal so that made it seem as though he would love to come back to TB.