Bucs Nation
We kick off the defensive side of the team with the pass rushers.
Discussing defensive ends is how we’ll start off the defensive half of the Buccaneers’ all-quarter-century team.
Let’s see who makes the cut.
When it comes to the Buccaneers getting to the quarterback, the first two names that come to mind are Lee Roy Selmon - the team’s original GOAT - and Simeon Rice.
Needing that heralded finisher to push a tough defense to another level, the team spent big in 2001 to acquire Rice in free agency after his first five years with the Arizona Cardinals saw him rack up 51.5 sacks.
Rice ascended with the rest of the defense, as he provided lethal quarterback-hunting ability for Tampa. After his first season saw him finish with 11 sacks, he served as a true game-wrecker for the 2002 championship team. Logging 15.5 sacks, 11(!!) passes defensed, and 50 combined tackles (12 for loss), Rice received first-team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nod. He also added two sacks in the Super Bowl.
The next three seasons were similarly fruitful despite the team as a whole largely faltering, as Rice recorded 41 more sacks, 13 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions, and 35 tackles for loss before injuries basically forced him out of the league.
Rice’s pass-rushing prowess (69.5 sacks in 7 years) would be sorely missed in Tampa for more than a decade after his departure in 2007, as the team failed to have even one player record double-digit sacks until 2018. The team will induct him into its Ring of Honor in 2025.
As just mentioned, the Bucs went through a long stretch of general ineptitude when it came to rushing the quarterback, with many swings and misses at fixing the position. So ironically, one of the team’s most low-key acquisitions at the time turned out to be one of the most critical to flipping the defense around and winning its second Super Bowl.
Barrett caught on as an undrafted free agent with the Broncos and produced modestly as a rotational edge defender for four seasons (14.5 sacks) before Tampa brought him in on a 1-year deal worth $4 million in 2019. Tampa improved at the position the previous season but still needed more juice, and oh boy did Barrett provide an extra squeeze of that…or, you know, nearly 20 squeezes.
Barrett broke the team’s single-season record for sacks in a season (19.5, which also led the league), in addition to compiling 6 forced fumbles and 58 combined tackles (19 for loss), and earned second-team All-Pro, a Pro Bowl nod, and a top-five finish for Defensive Player of the Year.
In the Super Bowl year, he wasn’t quite as prolific but still a high-quality threat – he finished with 8 sacks, 57 tackles (11 for loss), and two forced fumbles. He came in clutch during the playoff run, sacking Aaron Rodgers thrice in the NFC Championship...
