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Shaquil Barrett

AFC East Notes: Jets, Godchaux, Fins, Bills

July 31st, 2024 at 9:15am CST by Sam Robinson

Aaron Rodgers made a surprising push to come back from a September Achilles surgery last season. That predictably ended without the Jets quarterback suiting up again. Robert Saleh is now planning to keep his starter on ice until the games count again. The fourth-year Jets HC said he does not expect Rodgers to play during the preseason, though he noted (via the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) he is still deciding with regards to his QB’s participation in the team’s preseason finale. Rodgers sat out the first two Jets preseason games last year but received some work — after pushing Saleh for a chance to suit up, despite not having previously played in the preseason since 2018 — in the third contest. Teams generally park their starters for the third preseason game, and while it would be interesting to see how Rodgers looks post-surgery, it currently appears Week 1 will be his first appearance.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/22/24

July 22nd, 2024 at 7:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

  • Waived-injured: WR Jared Wayne

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

  • Signed: WR Kevin Austin Jr.

New York Jets

Dolphins OLB Shaquil Barrett Announces Retirement

July 20th, 2024 at 3:13pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins signed Shaquil Barrett at the beginning of this offseason as one of several recent free agent additions to their defense. Before we get a chance to see just how he would fit into Miami’s defense, though, it appears that the veteran linebacker has informed his new team of his intentions to step away from the game, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

A former undrafted free agent out of Colorado State in 2014, Barrett took a bit of a slow start to his NFL career, spending his entire rookie season on the Broncos’ practice squad. The next year, though, Barrett almost immediately made it known that he should’ve been drafted. Leading the team in sacks during the 2015 preseason, Barrett made the 53-man roster for his sophomore campaign.

His first career sack came in Week 3, and he eventually earned his first starts due to an injury to DeMarcus Ware. In six starts over 16 appearances, Barrett totaled 5.5 sacks in his first season on the field. The remainder of his time in Denver saw him vastly undervalued. He would only make nine starts in the next three years (all nine coming in 2017), but in a mostly rotational role, Barrett totaled 14.0 sacks during his time in Denver.

After five years with the Broncos, Barrett signed with the Buccaneers on a one-year, $4MM deal. In a one-year audition, Barrett put on the performance of a lifetime. In Week 2 of his first year in Tampa Bay, Barrett sacked Cam Newton three times. A week later, Barrett upped his own performance with four sacks on the Giants. While that furious pace didn’t continue for a season full of multi-sack games, he did lead the NFL in 2019 with a career-high 19.5 sacks, adding 37 quarterback hits and 19 tackles for loss while earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. The Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on him in 2020 but eventually rewarded Barrett in 2021 with a four-year, $72MM deal.

Barrett never quite reached the heights of that career year, but over the next two seasons, he continued to be effective and disruptive, totaling 18.0 sacks, 38 quarterback hits, and 20 tackles for loss. He earned his second Pro Bowl bid in 2021 after reaching double-digit sacks for the second time. His 2022 season was marred by a torn Achilles tendon that ended his season after eight games, and last year, he returned to add 4.5 sacks and three forced fumbles to the defense.

Barrett found his way to free agency as a cap casualty after Tampa Bay made it known that they only wanted to bring him back at a reduced rate. He signed with Miami a couple weeks later as the Dolphins searched for some quality depth while Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb recover from their respective Achilles and ACL tears. Phillips and Chubb were recently put on the team’s active/physically unable to perform list, so the Dolphins continue to lack experienced depth at a position group now led by first-round rookie Chop Robinson.

This late into the offseason, the Dolphins still have some options to fill in the outside linebacker spot in veteran free agents Carl Lawson, Tyus Bowser, Markus Golden, and others. Lawson visited the team back in April, while Bowser has experience with new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver from their time in Baltimore. They will have a little financial flexibility to sign a replacement as Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network notes that the team should get back Barrett’s $5.5MM signing bonus and $6.8MM cap impact.

For Barrett, though, his run appears to be over. While it comes as a surprise for many of us, as the 31-year-old was days away from attending training camp with the Dolphins, he claimed on his Instagram that he’s “been thinking about this for a while and the decision has never been more clear then it is now.” He gives the reasoning that, knowing how it feels and what it takes to accomplish your greatest dreams, he now wants to help his family to reach dreams of their own. Best of luck to Barrett and his family in their future endeavors.

AFC Contract Details: Texans, Sneed, Barrett

April 10th, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are some details on recently agreed upon contracts from around the AFC:

  • Myles Bryant, CB/PR (Texans): One year, $1.75MM. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, Bryant’s new deal in Houston includes a guaranteed amount of $800K comprised of $500K of his 2024 base salary (worth a total of $1.2MM) and a $300K signing bonus. Bryant can earn an additional $250K throughout the season with $14,705 per game active roster bonuses.
  • C.J. Henderson, CB (Texans): One year, $2MM. Wilson reports that Henderson’s contract includes a guaranteed amount of $500K consisting of a $300K signing bonus, like Bryant, and $200K of his 2024 base salary (worth a total of $1.4MM). Henderson will also get a per game active roster bonus, but his will be $17,647 per game for a potential season total of $300K.
  • L’Jarius Sneed, CB (Titans): Four years, $76.4MM. We already knew quite a bit about this deal when it was reported, though some of the figures weren’t completely accurate. While the reported number for guaranteed money was initially $55MM, it’s actually going to be $51.5MM. Per Mike Florio of NBC Sports, Sneed was guaranteed $44MM at signing consisting of Sneed’s $20MM signing bonus, his 2024 and 2025 base salaries of $4.32MM and 18.32MM, and per game active roster bonuses that equal up to $680K in each of the first two years. The per game active roster bonuses are listed as “fully guaranteed,” but they still must be earned with Sneed’s consistent presence on the active roster. Labeling a roster bonus as fully guaranteed usually means that it is prorated like a signing bonus. In theory, if Sneed misses any games in those two seasons, he’ll be forced to pay back a portion of those prorated bonuses. The remaining $7.5MM of guaranteed money comes from Sneed’s 2026 base salary of $15.15MM. His 2026 salary has $11MM guaranteed for injury at signing, which is likely where the $55MM figure came from, but effectively, the contract’s guarantees stand at $51.5MM. Additionally, Sneed’s per game active roster bonus potential season-totals increase in 2026 and 2027 to $850K apiece.
  • Shaquil Barrett, OLB (Dolphins): One year, $7MM. We originally reported on Barrett’s one-year deal being worth a maximum of $9MM, which is still true with incentives, but thanks to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, now we have the details. Barrett’s new deal in Miami has an actual base value of $7MM. It includes a guaranteed amount of $6.75MM consisting of a $5.54MM signing bonus and the entirety of Barrett’s 2024 base salary (worth $1.21MM). Barrett can also earn an additional $250K through per game active roster bonuses of $14,705 apiece. Due to tight cap space, though, the Dolphins had to add four void years onto the backend of Barrett’s deal. Whether or not he’s on the roster, he’ll carry a cap hit of $4.43MM in 2025 and $1.11MM in each of the following three seasons.

Jets “Highly Motivated” To Add Jadeveon Clowney

March 23rd, 2024 at 10:32pm CST by Ben Levine

Following Jadeveon Clowney‘s visit with the Jets earlier this month, the team is focused on getting a deal finalized. According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the Jets are “highly motivated” to sign the veteran edge rusher to a contract. Schultz notes that the two sides have been in “constant contact” since their in-person meeting.

[RELATED: Panthers To Meet With Jadeveon Clowney]

Since losing Bryce Huff to the Eagles, the Jets have been hunting for some reinforcement on the edge. As Schultz notes, the Jets were in the running for Shaquil Barrett “until the very end,” but they lost out on that sweepstakes when the pass rusher signed with the Dolphins.

Now, they’re shifting their focus to Clowney, who is coming off one of the most productive seasons of his career. The former first-overall pick got into 17 games (15 starts) for the Ravens in 2023, finishing with 9.5 sacks, 19 QB hits, and a pair of forced fumbles. For his efforts, Pro Football Focus graded Clowney 18th among 112 qualifying edge defenders.

In New York, Clowney would slide right into the rotational pass-rush role previously held by Huff, who finished last season with 10 sacks. While Huff didn’t start a game last year, he still got close to 500 defensive snaps playing alongside Jermaine Johnson and John Franklin-Myers. For comparison’s sake, Clowney garnered 654 snaps with the Ravens in 2023.

We heard previously that the Ravens were looking to retain the veteran, and Clowney also met with the Panthers during his free agency tour. According to Schultz, both of those teams remain in the hunt for the free agent, but it sounds like the Jets have been especially active in finalizing a deal.

Dolphins To Sign OLB Shaquil Barrett

March 12th, 2024 at 10:31am CST by Sam Robinson

After seeing his Buccaneers tenure come to an expected end, Shaquil Barrett became one of the top veteran edge-rushing options on the market. He has now found a new home, having agreed to a deal with the Dolphins (h/t Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz).

Barrett will land a one-year Dolphins deal worth up to $9MM, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This will be team No. 3 for Barrett, who began his career in Denver before ascending to a Pro Bowl-caliber pass rusher in Tampa. The Bucs were open to bringing Barrett back at a reduced rate, but their recent cap-casualty decision will lead the former UDFA to another Florida destination.

This signing will reunite Barrett with Bradley Chubb; the two were teammates on the 2018 Broncos. Chubb and Von Miller served as Denver’s top edge rushers that year, and Barrett angled for more playing time by taking a “prove it” Bucs deal in 2019. The former Miller sidekick certainly proved it in Tampa, leading the NFL in sacks in 2019 and playing a lead role in the Bucs going from the No. 5 seed to a Super Bowl title a year later.

Mounting consistent pressure on Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes to close out the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV-winning season, Barrett then scored a four-year, $72MM deal. Barrett collected his second Pro Bowl nod in 2021, a 10-sack season, but saw the 2022 campaign stall his momentum. After sustained a torn Achilles midway through the ’22 season, Barrett only produced 4.5 sacks and eight QB hits last season. That production and a restructure-generated high cap hit for 2024 made Barrett a Bucs release candidate.

Barrett now moves into position to return to a role as a rotational rusher. Should Chubb and Jaelan Phillips recover from their ACL and Achilles tears, respectively, they will be Miami’s starters with Barrett the top bench rusher. After the Dolphins needed to turn to veteran free agents to fill out their roster late last season, they are planning ahead this time. They will bet on Barrett, 31, regaining some of his pre-injury form being nearly two years removed from his setback.

FA Notes: Chiefs, Jones, Evans, Titans, Pats, Giants, Panthers, Falcons, Jags, Bucs, Rams

March 6th, 2024 at 1:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

Buzz about the Chiefs re-signing Chris Jones surfaced last week, and while that trail has gone a bit cold, some optimism still exists the defending champions can keep their top defender off the market. Many around the league do not expect Jones to leave Kansas City, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, but they do not anticipate a discount coming to pass. Jones stuck to his guns last year during a holdout that cost him more than $3MM between fines and a missed game check; that would make it rather shocking if he agreed to a team-friendly deal now.

The Chiefs reaching the $27-$28MM-per-year range should help move this close to the finish line, Fowler adds. That said, Jones could probably — given the cap spike — make a run at Aaron Donald‘s $31.7MM AAV standard and the position’s guarantee record (Quinnen Williams‘ $66MM) if he reaches free agency. The Chiefs were not willing to go near the Donald AAV neighborhood during talks last year, and it will surely take a monster offer to keep Jones from testing free agency now.

With the legal tampering period less than a week away, here is the latest free agency news:

  • The Chiefs were also among the teams interested in Mike Evans, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who details what would have been a big market for the veteran wide receiver. Evans opted to re-sign with the Bucs on a frontloaded deal that included $29MM fully guaranteed. The Falcons, Giants, Jaguars, Panthers, Patriots, Rams and Titans were preparing to see what it could take to lure Evans out of Tampa. High-profile FAs regularly use the Combine to gauge markets before the legal tampering period, and Evans evidently determined this Bucs deal compared favorably to what he could have collected on the market. But with Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman Jr. franchise-tagged, Evans would have been the top WR available. That distinction may now fall to Calvin Ridley.
  • Speaking of the Bucs, they are not ruling out a reunion with Shaquil Barrett at a reduced rate, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com notes. Tampa Bay cut Barrett last week, removing an $18MM-per-year contract from their payroll. Barrett stands to generate interest as a street free agent, but the former Super Bowl standout and NFL single-season sack leader is going into an age-32 season and coming off a 4.5-sack showing in 2023.
  • Darnell Mooney may be one of the players who could benefit from Evans, Pittman and Higgins being off the market. Despite the Bears target failing to eclipse 500 receiving yards in each of the past two years, he posted a 1,000-yard season in 2021 and has been in a low-volume passing offense. Teams figure to check in on the deep threat, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler suggests the Chiefs and Titans as potential players. The Chiefs’ receiver woes were well documented last season, and they recently cut Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The Titans beat out the Chiefs for DeAndre Hopkins last year, but he is going into an age-32 season and signed for just one more year. Treylon Burks has also not shown much consistency yet.
  • Barring 11th-hour deals, this year’s safety market will feature Xavier McKinney and Kamren Curl. These two could do quite well without Antoine Winfield Jr. and Kyle Dugger in the mix, with ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Caplan noting Curl’s market could come in around $14MM per year. A line of demarcation may emerge after these NFC East starters, with Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline adding a lucrative second wave should not be expected to transpire at this position. This is how the 2023 market played out, with a gulf forming between Jessie Bates and the field. Though, multiple others (Juan Thornhill, Vonn Bell, Donovan Wilson) collected eight-figure guarantees.
  • The Rams have talked terms with Kevin Dotson‘s camp, per GM Les Snead. They expect both he and center Coleman Shelton to hit the market. Dotson delivered a big contract year and should be expected to become one of the top earners on a crowded guard market. The Rams want Shelton back as well.

Buccaneers To Release OLB Shaquil Barrett

February 27th, 2024 at 10:02pm CST by Adam La Rose

In need of retaining several key members of their 2023 team, the Buccaneers have a few likely salary cap casualties. One of those has long been believed to be outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett, and he is indeed set to see his time in Tampa Bay come to an end.

The Buccaneers will release Barrett, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The two-time Super Bowl winner was owed an option bonus of $15.04MM on the fifth day of the new league year. Rather than absorbing that cap charge, Tampa Bay will cut bait after Barrett’s five-year run with the team.

This move will come in the form of a post-June 1 release, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times confirms. Taking that route will allow the team to spread out Barrett’s $26.67MM dead cap figure across two seasons. The Bucs will be hit with $9.27MM in dead money in 2024 and $17.4MM next year. They will save $4.9MM in cap space for this season, but only after June 1.

Barrett recently admitted he was likely to be released this offseason given his burdensome cap hit. The 31-year-old was owed $17MM in 2024 and he was due to carry a cap hit of $14.19MM, along with a charge of $29.43MM in a void year in 2025. One of many Bucs veterans to have their contracts restructured in recent years, Barrett’s release will be part of the process of Tampa Bay clearing out financial wiggle room in the post-Tom Brady era. The modest cap savings will not be available during the opening wave of free agency, but it will still help as the team aims to retain important members of the squad which went to the divisional round of the postseason.

Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and Antoine Winfield Jr. are each pending free agents (although the latter is likely to receive the franchise tag). A new contract for Mayfield in particular will be an expensive priority, given his success in his debut Tampa season. Barrett, by contrast, delivered underwhelming totals in 2023 despite managing to play in 18 combined regular season and playoff games coming off an Achilles tear the previous season. The two-time Pro Bowler posted 4.5 sacks in 2023, after recording three in eight contests the year prior.

Those totals mark a stark contrast to Barrett’s 19.5 sacks in 2019. That figure led the league and set a single-season franchise record. The Colorado State product also delivered four sacks in the 2020 postseason to help Tampa Bay win the Super Bowl that year; after a 10-sack campaign the following season, though, things have not gone according to plan. Barrett will now turn his attention to free agency in the hopes of regaining his previous form in a new environment.

The Buccaneers, meanwhile, will move forward with an inexpensive edge contingent including the likes of Anthony Nelson, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and YaYa Diaby. The latter finished tied for fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting after he delivered 7.5 sacks in 2023. Another investment along the edge via the draft could be in play for Tampa Bay, or the team could dip into the secondary free agent market if sufficient funds for a Barrett replacement exist. Entering today, the Buccaneers had $43.68MM in cap space with a slew of major financial decisions still to make.

Buccaneers Want To Re-Sign LB Lavonte David; No Baker Mayfield Talks Yet

January 30th, 2024 at 7:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Buccaneers’ interest in retaining Mike Evans and Antoine Winfield Jr. has been fairly well documented at this point, but the organization wants to retain one of its other Super Bowl starters. Lavonte David remains in the team’s plans.

Wrapping his 12th year with the Bucs, David is still playing at a high level. The veteran defender led the team with 134 tackles — his most since 2015 — and produced 4.5 sacks (his most since 2016). While Devin White‘s propensity for freelancing has undercut his athleticism, David has offered the team much more consistency. And the Bucs are placing a priority on David finishing his career in Tampa, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com notes.

While White could well be on the move after a disappointing contract year in which he saw his role decrease, David still looks to have a great chance of playing another season in Tampa. David, 33, played out a one-year, $4.5MM contract. If the Bucs do not re-sign David before the start of the 2024 league year on March 13, they will be hit with a $2.67MM dead-money charge. That is unlikely to faze a team that spent a season with a $35.1MM in Tom Brady dead money on its books.

One of this era’s best off-ball linebackers, David’s Pro Bowl count is lacking (one) due to the NFL still grouping rush linebackers and non-rush ‘backers together. David, however, is a three-time All-Pro who is the team’s second-leading tackler. Only Derrick Brooks (1,713) has more than David (1,480) among Buccaneers. David played 15 games this season, rating as Pro Football Focus’ No. 28 overall linebacker.

After carrying more than $70MM in dead money this year, the Bucs are projected to hold more than $37MM in cap space. The statuses of Evans, Winfield and Baker Mayfield will likely cut into that figure and require more work. The franchise tag figures to come out, with Winfield the cheapest of Tampa Bay’s options (the safety tenure is projected to be $17.2MM). The Bucs, however, have done quite well in retaining their top free agents in recent years. They let Shaquil Barrett, Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean test free agency before re-signing each over the past three years.

Barrett acknowledged recently he is probably on the cap-casualty radar. If the Bucs designate the veteran sack artist as a post-June 1 cut, they would save $4.9MM. Void years and a restructure have Barrett’s through-2024 deal (four years, $68MM) sitting as a rather onerous figure on Tampa Bay’s payroll. Barrett is due a $15MM roster bonus if he is on the team as of the fifth day of the 2024 league year, Laine adds. The 31-year-old veteran’s situation will be one to monitor; coming back from an Achilles tear, Barrett tallied just 4.5 sacks in 16 games.

Both Mayfield and the Bucs want to extend this partnership, but the quarterback confirmed (via The Athletic’s Mike Jones) no talks have taken place yet. Mayfield put together a strong playoff outing to lead the Bucs to a Round 1 win over the Eagles. That brought the 2023 UFA signing an additional $250K, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

March 2023, which saw three midlevel veterans sign for between $25MM and $40MM per year, can be labeled a broad price range for Mayfield. Even eclipsing the Geno Smith AAV — on a three-year, $75MM deal — would be an achievement for Mayfield, who could only command a one-year deal worth $4MM. Then again, Smith’s contract represents the floor for established QBs. Mayfield could conceivably move toward the Daniel Jones price point, with ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano mentioning $40MM as a logical place for talks to end. That would put the Bucs to the test, seeing as Brady never topped $25MM per year (though, his money was fully guaranteed).

Building a roster with Mayfield at $40MM per annum would be much more difficult, but the market the former No. 1 pick would command if he reached free agency — as a few teams will be looking for veteran options — will work against the Bucs this time around. Given his value fluctuation in recent years, Mayfield will be one of this year’s most interesting free agents.

NFL Restructures: 49ers, Humphrey, Barrett, Teller

September 6th, 2023 at 9:11pm CST by Ely Allen

The NFL has an offseason rule called the Top 51 rule. The Top 51 rule dictates that, from the start of the new NFL league year until the beginning of the regular season, only the top 51 contracts (in terms of salary cap hit) count against a team’s salary cap. With the 2023 regular season starting tomorrow, the Top 51 rule expired at 4pm today.

This means that each team in the NFL was forced to add two more contracts to their salary cap totals. If a team was flirting with the ceiling of the salary cap, the addition of two more contracts may push them above the limit. While that may not have been the case for all of the following teams, these front offices decided to take advantage of the timing to clear up some cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates:

  • The 49ers did double-duty, restructuring the contracts of tight end George Kittle and offensive tackle Trent Williams. For Kittle, the team converted $10.57MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the deal, clearing up $8.46MM of cap space. For Williams, San Francisco converted $18.24MM of the left tackle’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, also adding a single void year to the end of the deal. Williams’ adjustment cleared $14.59MM of cap space. The $23.04MM of cap space cleared in the restructures likely had less to do with the Top 51 rule and much more to do with star pass rusher Nick Bosa‘s record-setting extension.
  • The Ravens used the opportunity to adjust star cornerback Marlon Humphrey‘s contract. Baltimore converted $9.42MM of Humphrey’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus and added a single void year to the end of the deal. The adjustment created $7.54MM of cap space for the Ravens.
  • The Seahawks decided to create space by restructuring safety Jamal Adams‘ contract. Seattle converted $9.92MM of Adams’ 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.61MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Buccaneers also targeted the contract of a defensive veteran, adjusting the numbers of pass rusher Shaquil Barrett. For Barrett, Tampa Bay converted $13.09MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the contract. The restructure clears up $10.47MM of cap space for the Buccaneers.
  • The Titans also addressed the contract of a pass rusher, restructuring Harold Landry‘s current deal. Tennessee converted $11MM of Landry’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, clearing up $8.25MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Broncos continue to miss the contributions of wide receiver Tim Patrick, who will once again miss the entire season, but Denver still found some value for him in a contract restructure. The team converted $6MM of Patrick’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus to clear up $3MM of cap space.
  • The Browns created some cap space by restructuring the deal of veteran offensive guard Wyatt Teller. Cleveland converted $11.42MM of Teller’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end his deal in order to create $9.14MM of cap space for the team.
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