After losing left guard Ali Marpet to retirement and right guard Alex Cappa to the Bengals in free agency, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were suddenly very short on interior protectors for one Tom Brady. General manager Jason Licht and his staff were able to alleviate this to a point by stealing former Patriots guard Shaq Mason for a fifth-round pick.
Not only does Mason have what it takes to slip right in to protecting Brady — something he did in Foxboro from 2015 through 2019 — but he also has something interesting in common with one of his new teammates. Mason and edge-rusher Shaquil Barrett were named for the same two NBA Hall-of-Famers.
This is insane. We mentioned that new Bucs guard Shaq Mason is Shaquille Olajuwon Mason, named after the two former NBA stars. Well, his new teammate, Bucs pass-rusher Shaq Barrett, was born a year earlier in 1992, and is Shaquil Akeem Barrett, named after the same two players.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 24, 2022
