Is Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett injured or recovering from something?
Buccaneers outside linebackers coach Larry Foote seemed to imply that yesterday when Joe asked him whether he’s talking ball with Shaq like he is with Chris Braswell.
Foote said the following of Shaq: “He’s around … he’s getting some treatment. I know that’s funny when the year ends, you can’t be back in the building. [He] don’t live that far from me so he’s just rehabbing. And uh, hopefully… I don’t know the future with him. He could be back here or somewhere else so, but we’ll always be in contact.”
Shaq, 32, is a free agent. After retiring in July, walking away from a fat contract with Miami, Shaq wanted to play again and the Dolphins cut him.
That let the Bucs swoop in and add Shaq to their roster in late December. It was a desperation move for a Bucs team looking at any angle to find edge rusher help.
Obviously, Foote’s comments are open to interpretation. But Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he’d love to have Shaq back on the team.
The holdup, Joe suspects, is Shaq wants more than the very low salary plus incentives that the Bucs are offering. Or, whatever Shaq is “rehabbing” is more than routine veteran maintenance.
