Buffalo Bills: 3 free agent targets for the 2021 offseason

Buffalo Bills offseason target: Shaquil Barrett would solidify pass rush

If the Bills want to get serious about improving their pass rush, there is no better target than Shaquil Barrett.

Fresh off of winning a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Barrett will command a high price as he takes his turn on the free agent ferris wheel this spring.

It’s been a long road for Barrett to arrive at this payday. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2014 by the Denver Broncos, Barrett stuck, but showed no signs of becoming one of the league’s premier pass rushers over his five seasons in orange.

That all changed when he arrived in Tampa. After recording three sacks in 13 games during his last season with Denver, he posted 19.5 in 2019 with the Bucs. Barrett followed that up with eight in 2020, along with 43 solo tackles.

The question that remains is this: Will teams be willing to buy in on Barrett based on his 2019 performance? Or is the 2020 version a more accurate depiction of what he charts out to be for the rest of his career?

Barrett was by no means bad in 2020, but he was transcendent in 2019. Some team will pay to find out who the real Shaq Barrett is. The Bills could do a lot worse.