Shaquil Barrett

Shaquil Barrett (born November 17, 1992) is an American football outside linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He played college football at Colorado State University.

College career
Barrett started playing college football at Nebraska-Omaha in 2010. After the school eliminated its football program, he transferred to Colorado State. Since Barrett was transferring from a school that cut its program, he was eligible to play immediately instead of having to sit out a year. Barrett played three seasons (2011–13) for Colorado State University. He started 35-of-38 games for CSU and totaled 246 tackles (116 solo), 18 sacks, 32.5 tackles for a loss, three interceptions, six passes defended, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and three blocked kicks. Barrett was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2013 after ranking fifth in the nation with 12 sacks and 20.5 tackles for a loss.

2014 season
After going undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft, Barrett signed with the Denver Broncos on May 16, 2014. After being waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2014 season, the Broncos signed him to their practice squad on September 1, 2014. Barrett spent 16 weeks of the regular season competing on the practice squad, but was signed to the 53-man roster for the Week 7 game vs. the San Francisco 49ers. He was once again signed to the 53-man roster for the AFC Divisional Playoff Game vs. the Indianapolis Colts, but did not play.

2015 season
After finishing the 2015 NFL preseason with the most sacks of any player on the team, Barrett made the final 53-man roster. Barrett saw action in all 16 games (6 starts) and three postseason games, posting 41 tackles (28 solo), 5.5 sacks, four passes defensed, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and nine special-teams tackles. Barrett tallied two tackles and one special-teams stop in Denver's three postseason games. He made one tackle and one special-teams stop in his NFL debut vs. the Baltimore Ravens on September 13, 2015. In Week 6 of the 2015 season, Barrett made his first NFL start vs. the Cleveland Browns after DeMarcus Ware suffered a back injury. He finished with nine tackles (6 solo), 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, one pass defensed, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. On February 7, 2016, Barrett played in Super Bowl 50, but left the game to be evaluated with a concussion. He returned to finish the game and the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers by a score of 24–10.

2016 season
Barrett played all 16 games and totaled 31 tackles (20 solo), 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and two passes defensed in addition to five special-teams stops.

2017 season
In 2017, Barrett appeared in 16 games (9 starts), totaling 36 tackles (30 solo), four sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one blocked punt.

2018 season
On March 12, 2018, the Broncos placed a second-round restricted free agent tender on Barrett. On April 23, 2018, he signed his exclusive rights tender.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On March 15, 2019, Barrett signed one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Personal life
Barrett attended Boys Town (Neb.) High School, where he was an all-state defensive lineman. He was named Athlete of the Year at Boys Town.

Barrett married his wife, Jordanna, when he was still a college sophomore on February 2, 2012. They have three children together, one daughter, Aaliyah, and two sons, Shaquil Jr. and Braylon.