Chicago Bears: 3 High-profile free agents Ryan Pace must target

Shaquil Barrett (OLB), Buccaneers

A guy who is going to be worth a pretty penny this offseason is going to be Shaquil Barrett. Barrett is having a career year this season. He currently has 16.5 sacks on the year and leads the NFL in that category. The problem is that this career year is also a breakout year. He is still relatively young, but before his season, Barrett had never exceeded 5.5 sacks.

Could Barrett’s success be directly linked to the new scenery of being in Tampa Bay for a year? Since he was slated behind the likes of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, the answer could be he is taking advantage of the opportunity he has received in Tampa Bay. Barrett has been a complete beast this year.

Not only does Barrett lead the league with his 16.5 sacks, but he also leads the NFL with his six forced fumbles. Tie in his interception and you can see why I said Barrett is having a career year. It seems that the market for Barrett is going to be set between $15 and $16 million dollars. Remember, the Bears can add $13 million just by releasing Leonard Floyd this season.

Although I love this idea, the Chicago Bears will have to do their due diligence to try and determine if this year was an outlier or did Barrett really turn a corner given more playing time and opportunities. Barrett was not even drafted. Instead, he signed with Denver as an undrafted free agent before finding his way to Tampa Bay this year.