Shaq Barrett Torn Achilles Will Be Expensive
October 28th, 2022
The torn Achilles suffered by Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett last night is tragic for the Bucs’ hopes this season, but it also likely extends into 2023.
Shaq, who turns 30 next month, is due $15 million in 2023, and he will count $21.6 million against next year’s salary cap. With this major injury, it’s unclear whether he can return at an effective level on opening day.
Salary cap nerds will note Shaq has a massive dead cap number for 2023, so it’s makes no real football sense to cut him, and he probably has injury guarantees regardless.
It’s hard to win without your top pass rusher; that’s among the Bucs’ big concerns for the remainder of this season. And now it looks like that issue will rollover into next season.
When Joe thinks of Shaq and big-money Ryan Jensen dealing with serious injuries and being over 30 and under contract for 2023, Joe heads directly to the toilet.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:33 pm
Next year is a rebuild year and a year to start cleaning up the cap anyways. If they don’t have Brady, and are relying on Trask, the only thing they’ll be playing for the #1 pick in the draft.
And that’s OK. That was always the deal with getting Brady. You want to keep the window open for as long as possible, and you know it ends with a complete roster teardown and rebuild.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
It’s depressing to see all this high paid talent be wasted this year as the belief was next year was when the wheels came off as the bill would be due for the last three years. Next year is start of a rebuild that could last 3-20 years. If not longer.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:37 pm
From a Top 5 roster (allegedly) to Bottom 5 in just 2 months. Without JJP here..Shaq is just a guy anyway. Nelson was doing better than him
October 28th, 2022 at 1:39 pm
this is what happens when you are desperate to have an “all-in” season like this one was supposed to be.
Brady gets divorced
Shaq is totalled, out season and next year
Jensen is gone for season and next year
sign multiple old but previously good players that are done after 1 game (Hicks, Julio, that other tight end we signed)
not only is this team done but we are stuck with future years of bad football we need to dump all the old guys and devin white
October 28th, 2022 at 1:40 pm
How do we beat the dog sh*t out of the cowboys and beat the saints… only for us to lose like this now?? What’s changed that drastically??
October 28th, 2022 at 1:41 pm
Shaq played dominating football before the injury. I counted at least 3 tackles for loss.
This will hurt.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:45 pm
This is a real shame for all parties involved. Shaq has been a great player in Tampa and helped secure that 2nd Lombardi Trophy. The Achilles tear/rupture seems like a hard luck injury…can happen at anytime with no warning.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:47 pm
Was playing his BEST game since the Superbowl last night. This season is terrible!!! Can’t believe how fragile this team has been since the Superbowl. Don’t truly follow other teams but I’d bet no one has had a many crucial injuries as we’ve had the last 2 seasons. Glad we got a Superbowl with Brady but I think our window has officially closed.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:50 pm
Curtain Call for the Den Of Depression
October 28th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
Austin while injuries were a factor the only explanation for playing so inspired to guys loading comes down to coaching. First couple games they still had so e momentum from last regime and anger at how last season ended. Only explanation I can think of. Also have to wonder if Bruce was more involved in training camp. Has his presence diminished since regular season started/after saints sideline thing?
October 28th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
Hey Bowles, things just got “darker”. Glazers need to step in asap. They’re living in fantasyland if they think Bucs can still compete for the division. These players have mailed it in. Be active sellers before the trade deadline and for God’s sake, fire Leftwich today!!!! Bowles is making Raheem look like Belechek.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
This team is toast from now till past 2023. We get it. End of a legend, a nice two years, and winning the superbowl. Who can forget that boat parade, classic. Now we’re getting the bill for the party. Looks like the team will do football bankrupcy. We’ll have to settle our debts, and start from scratch. That’ll take way past 2023 fans. No quick fix here.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Poor conditioning. Lazy team. How did it get this bad this fast?
Glazers must be embarrassed
October 28th, 2022 at 1:57 pm
I feel so bad for Shaq. He is under appreciated as our top defensive player.
I hope he has a speedy and successful recovery.
His loss has really castrated our overated and struggling defense.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
Next years cap doesn’t matter ! Unless TB12 gets over Giselle and finds a super hot 25yo Victoria secret model and sticks around, we will suck with Trask next year .
Cap won’t matter.
October 28th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
Fortunately for Glazers only TV revenue and gambling revenue matter. Upset fans are insignificant background noise
October 28th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
Yeah, this feels a lot like Raheem’s final season, but with a lot more supposedly elite talent!
October 28th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
SEASON OVER YALL
October 28th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
Howard feels bad for Shaq too. Shaq was really trying to step up last night and set a good example. Once he left the game the heart of the team left the game also.
However Howard suspects that these guys had been full of themselves before the losing started and that conditioning was lax at best
Fire everyone
October 28th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
They can release after june 1st 2023 and save 15 M but they probably won’t
October 28th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Shaq is a waste ,he won’t be missed.Suh is missed though
October 28th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
Den of Depression is back!
October 28th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
If we aren’t going to make the playoffs there is zero point in winning another game and Will Anderson would be one hell of a replacement for this dude. I’ve read this book far too many times and I know how it ends, so I am in full blown draft mode. 😜
October 28th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
The sinking ship just keeps taking on water
October 28th, 2022 at 2:16 pm
Most every team has a 3/4 year window to compete for a title. I’m with Rod, start the rebuild now and get ahead of it. If you aren’t competing for a championship, you’re just delaying the inevitable. Rip the bandaid instead of pulling it off slowly.
October 28th, 2022 at 2:17 pm
Bucs would’ve been better off not starting 2-0. They need a real franchise Quarterback. Bryce Young in Tampa would’ve been simply amazing. But- they’re so bad right now that they may not win another gawd damn game and be in position to grab one of those real studs. The idea of Kyle Trask being that guy is a laughable at best. In any case – back to talking draft by November. YEEHAW, back to irrelevance we go! It’s a Bucs life
October 28th, 2022 at 2:20 pm
We will win the division. And get in playoff. Once in … you never know !
October 28th, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Thanks Joe, I was wondering about the cap hit.
October 28th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
Time to pay the piper, and clean up the cap.
I am mentally prepared.
It was a great run, and time to look forward.
October 28th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
How many times did we mention Robert Quinn as insurance, how many times. We could have had him just slide in now. The season has gotten away from us and the fans can’t do a dam thing about it. I feel sorry for those who have plopped down thousands of dollars for season tickets, like my sister and her husband. I couldn’t watch the game last night but I hope the boo birds were out in full force.
October 28th, 2022 at 2:57 pm
Ownership will blow this thing up next year…..we’re headed for a complete rebuild. A cap charge is still cheaper than paying a guy $15 million to not play.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:03 pm
Hmmmm….. which year is Arch Manning available for the draft? 2025/2026? A timed #1 pick might have some serious upside.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:07 pm
We pushed the one more run thing a year too far
October 28th, 2022 at 3:12 pm
I love rebuild years way more interesting than winning😆😆😆
October 28th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
I’m totally ready for a new offensive scheme with a dual threat QB. This scheme seems so archaic. I don’t see Trask ever starting.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:27 pm
That is a total bummer. Shaq was playing pretty well this season until this.
He probably won’t be back until Sept/Oct of 2023…
We are already in salary cap hell and this won’t help.
The Bucs need to sign Carl Nassib or spend a high draft pick on another OLB this off season.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:37 pm
I feel so sorry for him.
Age.. the type of injury to a speed merchant is really the end of his game.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:40 pm
start rebuilding now.. trade anything with value you can before Tuesday for draft picks.
October 28th, 2022 at 3:45 pm
We were at the mountaintop 2 yrs ago and was there in the mix last yr. Now guys, its our turn to take the ropes dowm. And down we will go. Just remember, we have our superbowl for the decade. They are extremely hard to come bay. Its gonna be a while before the next one comes/ So be thankful. Lets hope our O line gels next yr and we can solidify our D line. Get well Shaq. We know the injury is not your fault.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:06 pm
PewterStiffArm Says:
October 28th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
How many times did we mention Robert Quinn as insurance, how many times.
——–
LOL! The Eagles took a $9-million cap hit for just part of the year to get him. There is literally no money for him, literally none. The Bucs have done pretty much every trick in the book, and the only option you maybe could have come up with would be Chicago redoing his contract and basically eating the entire thing, and I doubt they’d even have the cap space to that themselves.
I’m just going to take a guess and say that Licht has heard of Quinn, and the idea he exists and was on the trade block is not breaking news to Licht.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Marine Buc – If Brady is leaving next year, and he’s not under contract, you just Tank with Trask and try to get the top pick in the draft.
If Brady did, for some reason, want to come back and play for this terrible coaching staff, the Bucs would really have to work some magic to keep anything close to a workable team around him.
I’m perfectly fine with doing anything Brady wants and trying to keep him on and around the team for as long as possible. But that comes with a price, and I’m A-OK with that price. Pretty much every fanbase in the NFL would trade a decade for pain to win a SB.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:16 pm
I can’t remember watching so many Buccaneer players having these severe injury problems. Perhaps the NFL needs to rework the way it pays players.
They throw these big contracts at the players and they don’t take good enough care of themselves or get out of shape and get hurt.
As a fan you want to see and be part of a great product but seeing so many of your favorite players unavailable while you invest your time and money following a club whose best players are unavailable or are not trying so hard because they don’t want to get hurt.
I’ve been watching NFL teams since the 60’s and 70’s and I don’t recall so many high level players getting hurt. Gayle Sayers comes to mind but all of those Cowboy, Steeler, Raider and Packer teams had the same players year in and year out. We’re players just iron men in the day and now we have players that can’t stay on the field.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Does Super G know some Brazilian Bruja? How can this be so bad on so many levels? Answer: witchcraft. That and Todd Bowles.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Though he came here as a pass rusher, he has developed into a very good OLB. He did a lot of his work in the defensive backfield and near the line, but always had his motor running.
I hope he can overcome this injury, he had been really durable, because he was fun to watch. No other Bucs could chase a mobile QB like he can.
October 28th, 2022 at 4:25 pm
Maybe we need to replace the grass at Ray Jay for turf to stop all these injuries?!
October 28th, 2022 at 4:29 pm
Shaq will be sorely missed. He was all over the field last night. He played both pass and the run well. His injury was a dagger in the heart of the defense last night that was already playing without Winfield and Davis.
October 28th, 2022 at 6:28 pm
Devin White’s best ability is rushing the passer. Can he just be the edge guy now?
October 28th, 2022 at 6:33 pm
They get hurt on synthetic turf, natural grass…doesn’t matter. I say blow it up, get rid of everyone, Licht included. Threw 12 million a year towards Jim Harbaugh (he’s not beating Ohio state anyway and won’t be competing for a national championship). Not a fan, but Harbaugh’s teams, (college or nfl) run the ball, play great defense and are tough.
He can’t do any worse than Bowles and this group of coaches and players. Would rather invest time in rooting for a team building towards something, than one that quits. Between his getting bored comment and jogging on that one play last night…it’s clear Devin White needs to go. 18 missed tackles last night…no competent nfl defense allows that.
Absolute, disgrace…
October 28th, 2022 at 7:02 pm
It’s the pirate curse.
October 28th, 2022 at 7:26 pm
I also like the idea of move Devin White to outside LB he not much smaller the Barrett. He seems lost at inside LB he could be great on the outside.
October 28th, 2022 at 7:33 pm
Ed … ‘I can’t remember watching so many Buccaneer players having these severe injury problems. Perhaps the NFL needs to rework the way it pays players.’
Bucs have been absolutely snake-bit over these past 2 years in terms of injuries. Makes me wonder if it might be something we’re doing that’s aggravating the injuries situation. Godwin’s injury was a good example. Chris didn’t miss any games in 2017 or 2018, but in BA’s 1st year (2019) with a new conditioning staff, he missed 2 games with hamstring problems. In 2020 he missed 4 games (1 to concussion, 2 to hamstrings & 1 to a finger that hampered him the rest of the year). In 2021 he missed the last 3 games & the playoffs due to going onto IR. Different training/conditioning staff & he was being used quite a bit differently under BA’s offensive schemes. We’ll probably never know though if either of these factors played a role in Godwin’s injury. Or in any of our other players’ injuries.
October 28th, 2022 at 7:43 pm
Marine Buc … Signing Carl Nassib won’t do much to compensate for Shaq’s loss. Nassib does have 2 sacks, but other than that his on-field accomplishments are meh (8 games, 132 def snaps, 2 sacks, 1 QB knockdown, 2 TFLs & 12 tackles (7 solo). Anthony Nelson BTW is doing almost exactly the same. Neither is a suitable fill-in for Shaq.
If I were DC (thank heaven I’m not), I’d more Logan Hall outside & sign SOMEONE to man the middle with Vea (Suh would be nice, but I think that ship has sailed now). Hopefully Hicks comes back quickly and stays healthy.
October 28th, 2022 at 8:33 pm
My condolences to Shaq. I feel so bad for him. He’s been the one bright spot on the team. He always plays balls out. He was beasting last night. At least we may get the #1 pick in the draft. It’s time to let Trask play and get some games under his belt. Tom Brady is playing like pure garbage. And who will be our next head coach? Raheem ??? Bahahahaha.
October 28th, 2022 at 9:03 pm
We all knew we were mortgaging the future for that Super Bowl. We’re at the beginning of paying that price. So far still worth it.
October 28th, 2022 at 9:15 pm
Shaq was JL’s 1st bad move…. JL loves chasing the past and reputation at the expense of the future. Shaq was great for a minute, but that was when he had men on the dl next to him, since he got paid…waist of cash
October 28th, 2022 at 9:31 pm
“Shaq was JL’s 1st bad move”
Man this is a dumb comment.
Shaq was an integral part of the unit that won a Super Bowl.
He was all over the field last night before he got hurt.
October 28th, 2022 at 9:33 pm
We have at the very least two more years worth of bad money that needs to play out before the true rebuild can start.
Everybody should be on the trade block right now, including Brady. Nobody would want him, but he shouldn’t be off limits. Sadly nobody is playing well right now, so the returns on any trades would be minimal. Godwin should be on the block. Devin White should be made available.
Tristan Wirfs is the only untouchable asset on this roster.
October 28th, 2022 at 10:09 pm
Counting on JTS and Logan Hall, to replace All pros JPP and Suh.
Lol.
Yeah, you cant even tell the young guys are playing.
Between the disaster at the line, and replacing talent with youth on the defense,
Its no surprise the team sucks.
I predicted we would win the division at 9-8, or 8-9.
We’ll have to improve to reach that lofty Goal
October 28th, 2022 at 10:24 pm
Truth RSJ, Shaq was dominant. Sorry I didn’t quantify his 2022 restructured contract. I thought we were talking about future cap hit
October 29th, 2022 at 2:26 am
prayers for shaq…achilles is a long road back…hopefully he comes thru nicely with his recovery…
would be nice if we had jpp right about now too…
they’ve gotta do something to fill this hole…
neither nelson nor nassib fit the bill…it’s nill
{joe you see what i did there?)
October 29th, 2022 at 3:27 am
Defense Rules Says:
October 28th, 2022 at 7:33 pm
Ed … ‘I can’t remember watching so many Buccaneer players having these severe injury problems. Perhaps the NFL needs to rework the way it pays players.’
Bucs have been absolutely snake-bit over these past 2 years in terms of injuries. Makes me wonder if it might be something we’re doing that’s aggravating the injuries situation.
————
I think it’s the tent. Part of playing here meant you were going to be in amazing shape by just having to deal with the heat. Now, if there’s a thunderstorm in Orlando, they go to the tent to be ‘safe’ and it’s making the team a bunch of pansies.
Tear down the tent, make these men man up. That will fix the conditioning problems.
October 29th, 2022 at 9:06 am
I had my Achilles surgically detached and reattached Dec 2019. My goal was to be declared SPORTS READY in six months. I made it back in FIVE. By six months I was doing everything pain free with zero restrictions. There is no reason to believe that Shaq will have an issue coming back from this.
October 29th, 2022 at 5:40 pm
Bring back Suh. If he’s still up for it. If the Bucs are still serious about football…Daylight is burning.
Otherwise, the Bucs need to go full lawnchair defense with the 3 biggest ones in front. And the rest the standard issue. You know, those sleek retractable ones. This way the opponents may trip over one of them heading down the field.
In all seriousness, how on earth did the goat ever get himself in such a predicament?