INDIANAPOLIS -- As the Indiana Convention Center was opening and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were getting ready for their first official day at the NFL Scouting Combine general manager Jason Licht had to make a call that most expected, but none enjoyed.
With the Buccaneers cutting veteran outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett his time with the organization comes to a close after five seasons, four playoff appearances, and a Super Bowl win.
Barrett was one of the last remnants of the players brought in by Licht and then head coach Bruce Arians to help get Tampa Bay to the top of the league, and arrived one year before quarterback Tom Brady did.
Facing his first season coaching the Bucs without Barrett on his side of the ball, coach Todd Bowles shared some personal sentiments with us about the move at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"It's tough," Bowles said. "It's tough because you have the personal side when you get to know these guys for five years and the relationship you build with them that'll never end, to having the business side of putting a product on the team, putting money elsewhere, bringing in younger guys, and making calls like that. I have to say he still can play, so you never know what happens, but me and Shaq have a relationship as I do with most of the guys that'll expand far beyond football."
Of course, on field success often helps cement personal bonds and there has been plenty shared by Bowles and Barrett over the years.
Starting in 2019 when the linebacker joined the Buccaneers after fighting for every snap with the Denver Broncos the four years prior Barrett was a hungry player looking for his shot at starting in the NFL.
Not a guarantee, but an opportunity. And that is what Arians, Bowles, and Tampa Bay offered him. Along with a one-year contract.
"It was one of the best I've seen, especially that I coached actually," Bowles said of that 2019 season performance by Barrett. "He came in - hair on fire, he had a point to prove, he was getting by every offensive tackle in the league. He helped our Super Bowl run, he helped us be successful. He's a big part of the success we've had over the past five years and that doesn't go unnoticed."
His 2019 campaign led to a franchise tag in 2020. Worth $15.8 million at the time it wasn't the security Barrett was looking for, but it was enough money to make him happy and keep him motivated.
After dropping opposing quarterbacks 19.5 times in his first year, Barrett got to them eight more in his second.
That led to a four-year deal worth $68 million. The money and the security had finally arrived, hard-earned after years of fighting to get to the top.
But Father Time is a cruel patriarch and just like many before him there are some wondering if he hasn't caught up with Barrett.
More than that, salary cap strains put on the franchise after financing a Super Bowl team and trying to duplicate it the year after has caught up with the Bucs.
Releasing Barrett drops some much-needed salary cap relief in on the Buccaneers as they look to retain players like quarterback Baker Mayfield, safety Antoine Winfield Jr., and future Hall of Fame receiver Mike Evans.
It makes sense.
But that fact doesn't make it sting any less. For Barrett, or for the coach who gave him his first real shot at showing the NFL what he had to offer five years ago.
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