2019 NFL sack leader Shaquil Barrett is due to become a free agent. And if the Buccaneers don’t apply the franchise tag to Barrett (they probably will, absent a new contract), he’ll have a decision to make about his future.
He’s already decided that he’ll give the Buccaneers every opportunity to keep him — even if others offer more.
“If [other teams] offer me more than Tampa, I’m going to look at the places, if they offer me more than Tampa, I’m going to look at what their taxes is compared to Tampa’s,” Barrett told Chris “Mad Dog” Russo during Super Bowl week in Miami, via JoeBucsFan.com. “Because I ain’t going to live in L.A. and get taxed crazy.”
In Florida, Barrett pays no state income tax. In California, he’d pay 13.3 percent.
“I’m not going to take drastically less but I am open to doing what I think is best for my career, and I think that would be staying in Tampa,” Barrett added.
He also explained that he doesn’t like moving. He really doesn’t like moving. He doesn’t like moving so much that he took less than a full scholarship in college to stay close to home and he took less than he could have gotten elsewhere as an undrafted free agent to stay close to Denver.
That’s all good news for the Buccaneers. But it’s likely not good enough news to get them to refrain from using the franchise tag, if they can’t work out a new deal with Barrett before free agency.