The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to terms with linebacker Shaq Barrett on a one-year deal worth $5 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Barrett has been a high-motor rotational player at outside linebacker in the team’s 3-4 defense since he first grabbed the Denver Broncos‘ attention as an undrafted rookie in 2014, but his playing time took a significant hit this past season with the emergence of No. 5 overall draft pick Bradley Chubb.
Barrett, 26, played in just 21 percent of the defensive snaps in 2018 as Chubb and Von Miller did the bulk of the work at outside linebacker. His 26 tackles were a career low, and his three sacks was the second-lowest season total of his career — he had 1.5 sacks in 2016.
“I want to go somewhere I can start,” a frustrated Barrett said after the Broncos’ disappointing 6-10 season. “Or contribute more to a defense.”
The Baltimore native consistently drew raves from his coaches for his no-nonsense approach. Barrett, who played in 61 games with Denver, has often cited his path to the NFL, which included two years at Boys Town in Nebraska after he left Baltimore when he was 15 in search of more structure and discipline.
After spending much of the 2014 season on the practice squad, Barrett became a regular on the Broncos’ defense at the start of 2015. That season, when the Broncos’ defense was the league’s best on the way to a Super Bowl 50 win, Barrett finished with a career-best 5.5 sacks.
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.