Tag: Shaquil Barrett

10 free agent DEs the Colts should consider in 2021

Colts have a massive need to add to the edge.

The Indianapolis Colts have several needs entering the 2021 offseason—a list that looks more like a rebuilding team than one ready to compete for the playoffs. Chiefly among those needs is at defensive end.

While the interior is stout with talent and production, the edge was far too inconsistent in 2020. Justin Houston, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Denico Autry are all set to be free agents this offseason, which leaves some thin depth on the edge.

Fortunately for the Colts, there are some very strong options in free agency. Enough so that Chris Ballard could change his tune a bit and dish out a nice contract to bring a fearful presence to the edge.

Here are 10 free-agent defensive ends the Colts should consider in 2021:

4 pending free agents in Super Bowl LV the Chargers could consider signing

Super Bowl LV could be an evaluation period for the Los Angeles Chargers.

The biggest game of the year is just days away, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to clash with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

While many around the world are gathering around to watch the contest for entertainment purposes, teams across the league are using this as a part of their evaluation process for the offseason.

Each team will have a slew of soon-to-be free agents that could draw their attention. With that, here are four players that the Los Angeles Chargers should have their eyes on:

CB Bashaud Breeland, Chiefs

The Chargers need to add more talent to the position. Whether it was a maneuvering of scheme or injuries, Casey Hayward didn’t look himself in 2020, and he’s slated to be a free agent after the upcoming season, along with Chris Harris Jr. Michael Davis is set to be a free agent. There isn’t much else on the roster that can be considered reliable when called upon.

The 28-year-old Breeland had one of his best seasons as a pro in 2020, breaking up seven passes and picking off two. Among all outside cornerbacks who saw at least 15 playoff snaps over 2019-20, Breeland’s overall grade of 82.2 ranks third, and his 84.7 coverage grade ranks second, according to Pro Football Focus.

C Austin Reiter, Chiefs

The Chargers could elect to move on from both Mike Pouncey and Dan Feeney, both of whom are slated to be free agents.

Reiter served as a swing option early on in his career before becoming a reliable starter along a line that was hampered by injuries throughout the season.

Reiter has proven to be a premiere pass-blocker, with Pro Football Focus grades of at least 78.0 in every season of significant playing time in that area. This season, Reiter didn’t allow a single pressure and wasn’t penalized at all.

Shaquil Barrett, OLB, Buccaneers

It might be a long shot, but given the fact that Melvin Ingram will be a free agent, Barrett’s a guy worth monitoring as a potential replacement.

Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014, he spent his first five years as a rotational pass rusher for the Broncos. He finally got his chance to start with the Buccaneers in 2019, and broke out with a monstrous season, notching 19.5 sacks. Barrett followed that up with eight sacks in 2020.

Barrett is a natural outside linebacker, so he would slide perfectly into coach Brandon Staley’s 3-4 scheme. Given his most recent track record of elite play, Barrett might demand top dollar, which is why Los Angeles may elect to pass up on the opportunity.

NT Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Buccaneers

The Chargers got high production out of Linval Joseph, who was signed last offseason. However, the team could benefit from valued additions to the nose tackle spot.

Nunez-Roches was selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Chiefs, where he played three seasons. He signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2018 and is finishing his third season with the Bucs.

Even though the production isn’t inspiring in the stat sheet, his disruption affects the game and frees up his teammates to make plays. Nunez-Roches wins in a variety of ways with his blend of power and quickness to infiltrate gaps, get upfield and find the ball.

Vikings OC Gary Kubiak talks about facing the Buccaneers defense

Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak talked about the challenges the offense will face against a stout Buccaneers defense.

Minnesota has been successful on offense recently, but the team has had its faults.

The Vikings have committed some costly turnovers against the Panthers and Jaguars. Minnesota had two fumbles returned for touchdowns against Carolina. There seemed to be a disconnect between Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook against Jacksonville, which led to a pick-six.

Those mistakes may cost them a win in Tampa Bay, against a menacing Buccaneers defense. Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak talked about his team facing that group:

“They’ve been off (for the bye week), so they’re going to be really flying around,” Kubiak said, via the Vikings’ Twitter account. “Very stout, they run extremely well. They set the edges with (Shaquil Barrett) and Jason (Pierre-Paul) on the other side. You got (Ndamukong) Suh inside. They push inside and they set the edges, so that makes it very, very difficult.”

There are some challenges with this Buccaneers defense. If the Vikings can manage to handle the pressure Tampa Bay can generate in the passing game, then I think it’s possible for Minnesota to pull off an upset.

“It’s that time of year, so get ready to go,” Kubiak said.

Four keys to success for the Vikings vs. the Buccaneers

Here are four keys to success for the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Minnesota has pulled off a pretty impressive second-half surge.

The Vikings have won five of their last six games to move to 6-6. There is a caveat to that, though: the team has mostly beaten inferior opponents.

Even worse, the Vikings lost to a pretty bad Cowboys team and they looked beatable against the Panthers and Jaguars.

Wins are wins in the NFL, but Minnesota has not been very convincing in some of its victories. Does that mean that the Vikings won’t be able to win vs. top-tier talent? We’ll find out on Sunday.

The Vikings go on the road to play the Buccaneers on Sunday. Tampa Bay is 7-5 and favored to win the game, so a lot will need to go Minnesota’s way.

Here are just a few things that would help the Vikings get an upset:

Shark Week means Shaq Week for the NFL sack king

Buccaneers linebacker and reigning sack king Shaq Barrett got the Shark Week treatment from the team on Instagram.

It’s Shark Week, and boy do we need some shark entertainment in our lives right now.

Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski is a veteran of Shark Week, having taken part in the Discovery Channel celebration back in 2018. While Gronk is too busy at training camp this year to get his feet wet with the big fish, his new teammate, NFL sack king Shaq Barrett, got the Shark Week treatment as the team posted this Jaws-inspired picture featuring their star linebacker.

View this post on Instagram

Welcome to Shaq Week 🦈

A post shared by Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@buccaneers) on

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The NFL’s 11 best edge defenders

The NFL places a premium on the ability to get to the quarterback. Here are the league’s 11 best pass-rushers heading into the 2020 season.

What makes a great edge defender? You can go over traits and production and add them together any way you choose, but when I spoke with Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz recently for the “Speaking of Everything” podcast, he talked about the importance of having multiple ways to get to the quarterback.

“On the whole, it’s guys who can do multiple things,” Schwartz said of the pass-rushers who give him fits on the field. “If a guy is really good at tone thing, for the most part, you can stop it. If it’s Justin Smith power, there’s only so much you can do against that. But for the most part, if a guy can only do one thing, it’s not the best version of it you’ve ever seen. If a guy is super-quick and that’s all he can do, you get him off the [snap], and he’s done. If a guy is really strong and only has a bull-rush, and you’re sitting on it, there are things you can do to disrupt the timing, and there’s not much else he can do. The thing [the best pass-rushers] can do is any combination of three moves — some variation of the inside move, some variation of the speed or outside move, and then, the power move. If you’ve got the ability to do two of those, let alone three, the offensive lineman doesn’t have anything he can wait for or predict.”

The edge defenders on this list can beat you in multiple ways, and from multiple gaps. And though the primary focus is on quarterback disruption, you’re not going to be one of the NFL’s top 11 pass-rushers if you can’t break off pressure to stop the run in an instant. And if you can drop back in basic coverage… well, that helps as well. Here are the best players when it comes to presenting impossible math problems to opposing offensive linemen.

Honorable Mentions

(Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports)

The Washington Football Team now has five first-round picks along its defensive line with the addition of second-overall pick Chase Young, but Ryan Kerrigan led the edge guys with just 37 total pressures. Matt Ioannidis, a fifth-round defensive tackle out of Temple in 2016, was the team’s best pass-rusher last season. So, there’s that. As far as guys who were tough to keep off the Top 11, let’s start with San Francisco’s Arik Armstead, who totaled 73 pressures and had 42 stops, tied for third-best in the league. Everson Griffen had 70 pressures and 30 stops for the Vikings last season and is currently an unsigned free agent. We’d expect that to change soon, depending on an actual football season happening. Brandon Graham of the Eagles seems perennially underrated because he gets more pressures than sacks, and he amassed 68 pressures in 2019, along with 38 stops. Harold Landry III of the Titans is an up-and-comer who could have a breakout season in 2020, and the Falcons certainly hope Dante Fowler Jr. can keep up the career-year pace he set last season with the Rams.

Now, onto the top guys.

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Shaq Barrett officially signs franchise tag tender offer

Bucs LB Shaq Barrett officially signed his franchise tag tender offer on Wednesday, bringing the 2019 sack leader back to Tampa Bay in 2020.

Shaq Barrett emerged as one of the biggest stars in 2019 after bursting onto the scene in his first year with the Buccaneers, finishing the season with a league-leading 19.5 sacks, which also broke Tampa Bay’s single-season franchise record.

Barrett was assigned the franchise tag earlier this offseason by the Bucs with the hope that the two sides could come to an agreement on a long-term deal by the July 15 deadline.

Well, the deadline has arrived without a deal being reached, but Barrett will be back with the team in 2020 after officially signing his tender offer today.

It still sounds like there’s reason for optimism when it comes to Barrett’s future in Tampa, according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus.

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Deadlines make deals: Franchise tag edition

What to watch for today as the deadline for reaching agreement with players on the franchise tag approaches.

Today, July 15th, is the deadline for NFL teams to reach an agreement on a long-term extension with players that the organizations placed franchise tags upon. If the parties fail to agree to new contracts by 4 p.m. ET, the players will play the 2020 NFL season on the one-year franchise tag.

As of this morning, there are 13 players facing this situation, including two (A.J. Green and Yannick Ngakoue) who have not even signed the franchise tag offer. Here is a look at all 13 situations with a prediction as to what happens by the deadline.

The players are listed in alphabetical order.

Shaquil Barrett, EDGE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

(Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Franchise Tag Salary: $15.828 million

Status: Last season was a true breakout campaign for the EDGE defender. An undrafted free agent out of Colorado State in the 2014 draft class, Barrett signed with the hometown Denver Broncos as a free agent. Over four seasons in Denver, he mustered a total of 15 sacks.

Then he found a new home in Tampa Bay, and last year was his true breakout season. He put a whopping 20 sacks on the board, along with 82 quarterback pressures, 18 quarterback hits and 44 QB hurries. He also added his first career interception, when he picked off Jared Goff back in Week 4.

Both sides want to reach a long-term deal, and from Barrett’s position you can understand why. The Buccaneers are the “hot team” in the NFL right now, with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski now in town. Furthermore, Barrett was part of a big defensive turnaround in Tampa Bay. What could complicate matters is the cap space issue. As of this moment the Buccaneers have just $4,873,799 available under the cap, although that factors in the franchise tag amount for Barrett. Surely Jason Licht can find a way to make the numbers work.

Prediction: Extension reached.

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Shaq Barrett is signing his franchise tender; not close to long-term deal

Buccaneers LB Shaq Barrett will sign his franchise tag tender, but he and the Bucs remain far apart on a long-term deal.

Shaq Barrett burst onto the scene last season, going from afterthought offseason signing to the 2019 sack leader.

Barrett led the league with 19.5 sacks last year, breaking the Bucs’ single-season franchise record in the process. Throughout the year, Bruce Arians and the Bucs were adamant that they wanted Barrett back with the team in 2020 and beyond, and for what it’s worth, Barrett was just as enthusiastic about remaining in Tampa.

But after being assigned the franchise tag by the team this offseason, many wondered if and when Barrett would sign his tender without the promise of a long-term deal. Well, it seems Barrett will indeed sign, but the sides still seem far apart on a long-term deal.

You’ve got to wonder if the Bucs are working on a one-year deal to try and see if Barrett can replicate his 2019 success. He seems like a perfect fit in Todd Bowles’ system, but if they are going to invest big money, long term, they want to make sure they’ll get close to the same production as they did in 2019.

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Flashback Friday: Shaq Barrett mic’d up against the Saints

Take a look back at Bucs LB Shaquil Barrett mic’d up during Week 5’s game against the New Orleans Saints last year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett said earlier this week that he’d sign his franchise tag tender and play out with 2020 season if he and the Bucs couldn’t come to terms on a long-term deal by the July 15 deadline.

Barrett had a monster 2019, leading the league in sacks with 19.5 and establishing himself as one of the stars of this Tampa Bay defense. Not bad for a guy who had a total of 14.0 sacks during his five years with the Denver Broncos.

As a celebration for Barrett’s impending return to the team this season for the Bucs, here’s a flashback to the mic’d up linebacker during Week 5’s game against the New Orleans Saints last year.

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