Tag: Shaquil Barrett

Mike McDaniel explains why Dolphins left Shaq Barrett on retired list

The Dolphins didn’t want to cut a player who “earned the right” to be on the roster to make room for Shaq Barrett.

Two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Shaquil Barrett retired in July, days before the Miami Dolphins were set to begin training camp. While he changed his mind earlier this week and applied for immediate reinstatement, the Dolphins shut it down.

Rather than activate Barrett from the team’s reserve/retired list or release the pass rusher so he could make his return from retirement elsewhere, the Dolphins decided to do nothing. By leaving him on their reserve/retired list, the Dolphins guaranteed that the former Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers player won’t play at all in 2024.

“Just talking with [general manager] Chris [Grier], and where our roster was at and the players that have earned the right to be on [the roster],” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Friday night after a 30-17 loss. “It’s a number’s game in the NFL. The timing I don’t think was necessarily ideal.”

By activating Barrett, the Dolphins would’ve had to release a player to find room for the pass rusher on the roster. That could be a tough call with the eventual returns of linebackers Bradley Chubb and/or Cameron Goode from the PUP list potentially forcing two more players off the 53-man roster.

But some criticized the Dolphins for not parting with Barrett to allow him to play elsewhere.

“Like I said we just found out on a day that I had a press conference with you guys, and it was more of that,” McDaniel said. “It wasn’t whether he wanted to play there or here. He knew we had his contractual rights, so it was more of where we are at, and let’s look at our roster.”

The Dolphins are near the bottom of the NFL in sacks with Chubb yet to play a game this season and Jaelan Phillips lost for the year with a season-ending knee injury. While first-round rookie Chop Robinson had a stellar November, Miami hardly touched Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love in a Thanksgiving loss.

Barrett, 32, led the NFL in sacks with 19.5 in 2019 and recorded 4.5 last season.

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Dolphins decide to leave 2-time Pro Bowl pass rusher on retired list

Shaq Barrett changed his mind about retirement, but he won’t be making a 2024 return after all.

Two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Shaquil Barrett won’t be making a midseason return from retirement after all.

The Miami Dolphins had until 4 p.m. ET on Thursday to decide whether or not they’d activate Barrett from the reserve/retired list. The team opted against adding the pass rusher to their roster, and also decided not to release Barrett — meaning he’ll miss the remainder of the 2024 season.

Barrett, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in the offseason, but decided to retire in July, just days prior to the start of training camp. Earlier this week, the pass rusher decided to apply for immediate reinstatement, which was a decision that Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was “fully caught off guard” by when he heard the news Tuesday.

The Dolphins lost Jaelan Phillips to a season-ending injury and are still waiting for Bradley Chubb to return from the PUP list. The team also placed Tyus Bowser on the injured reserve Thursday. However, it has seen an uptick in production from first-round rookie Chop Robinson, who is starting opposite Emmanuel Ogbah.

Activating Barrett would’ve required the team to release a player to make room on the 53-man roster. Releasing Barrett would’ve run the risk of the pass rusher joining and strengthening another playoff contender. Instead, the team decided neither route was the prudent decision.

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Dolphins taken by surprise by Shaq Barrett changing mind on retirement

Mike McDaniel says the Dolphins had no idea Shaquil Barrett was reconsidering his July decision to retire.

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said the team had no knowledge pass rusher Shaquil Barrett was reconsidering his July retirement and he hasn’t yet figured out what the team should do about the two-time Pro Bowler’s decision to apply for immediate reinstatement.

“There’s a reason why you target and sign somebody,” McDaniel told reporters Tuesday. “I was fully caught off guard or caught by surprise this morning as I found out. I really haven’t had a chance to think about it. I think the team is counting on me to think about the Packers.

“I’ll get with [general manager] Chris [Grier] and we will work through that. But there’s a ton of implications that go through that with team and roster stuff. So we’ll work through that as we just got the news today.”

Barrett signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in March and participated in the team’s offseason program, but retired just days before training camp was set to begin. According to McDaniel, that’s the last the team heard from Barrett.

“That’s why it’s just kind of news as you got it, it is to us. We’ll sort through that. The Tuesday before a Thursday night game, it’s tough. I’ve gotta talk to Chris first.”

Barrett is reportedly open to the idea of continuing his NFL career by playing with the Dolphins, but it remains to be seen if the team will welcome him back. After struggling to generate a pass rush early in the season, rookie first-round pick Chop Robinson has emerged as a dynamic threat off the edge in recent weeks.

The team also has linebackers Cameron Goode and Bradley Chubb on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, and anticipates both returning to play at some point this season.

Barrett, 32, began his career with the Denver Broncos, but emerged as one of the NFL’s top pass rushers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his first season with the Bucs, Barrett led the NFL with 19.5 sacks. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2019 and 2021, and recorded 45 sacks in five seasons with the team.

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2-time Pro Bowl pass rusher ends retirement, could return with Dolphins

Are the Dolphins going to finally get help from the Pro Bowl pass rusher they signed in March?

Shaquil Barrett has reversed course again and reportedly filed paperwork to be reinstated, four months after he abruptly retired in July. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher has applied to make an immediate return to the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins signed Barrett, a former Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rusher, to a one-year deal in March. But he announced his retirement from the league in July, just days before he was due to report for training camp, citing a desire to shift his focus to his wife and kids.

In his absence, the Dolphins struggled to rush the passer early in the season as Bradley Chubb has yet to return from an ACL tear that ended his 2023 season, and Jaelan Phillips suffered a season-ending knee injury in September. But the Miami pass rush has improved in recent weeks with the emergence of first-round rookie Chop Robinson, who has 3.5 sacks in the last four weeks.

Still, there’s room for more improvement. Behind starters Robinson and Emmanuel Ogbah, who have 3.5 sacks each, only Quinton Bell has recorded a sack. The Dolphins signed Tyus Bowser for depth in October, but he has struggled and has recorded only four pressures in seven games.

The eventual return of Chubb could provide a boost, but the Dolphins may be interested to see if Barrett still has what it takes to make an impact down the stretch. On the other hand, Miami may be inclined to part with the veteran who never even arrived at training camp after signing with the team.

It’s also unclear for now if Barrett is eying a role with Miami in his return. However, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the pass rusher isn’t hunting for a way off the Dolphins’ roster.

Barrett, 32, earned Pro Bowl nods in 2019 and 2021 while with the Buccaneers. In nine seasons, he has 59 career sacks, including a league-leading 19.5 in 2019.

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Dolphins to host Yannick Ngakoue for workout, per agent

Yannick Ngakoue will join Emmanuel Ogbah in auditioning to fill Shaq Barrett’s spot on the Dolphins’ roster.

Emmanuel Ogbah won’t be the only pass rusher auditioning for a contract with the Miami Dolphins on Monday. According to agent Drew Rosenhaus, his client Yannick Ngakoue will also be at the team’s facility in hopes of filling Shaquil Barrett’s spot on the roster.

Ngakoue, 29, has been a pass rushing mercenary who has been on six different teams since 2019. He burst on to the scene with the Jacksonville Jaguars, racking up 37.5 sacks and a trip to the Pro Bowl in his first four seasons. Since then, he’s tallied another 31.5 sacks in stints with the Vikings, Ravens, Raiders, Colts, and Bears over the last four years.

While run defense has never been a strength for Ngakoue, he’s started 115 of the 123 games he’s played in his career.

The Dolphins may be in need of a short-term starter with Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips set to begin training camp on the PUP list after season-ending injuries in 2023.

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Shaquil Barrett retiring 4 months after signing with Dolphins

Shaquil Barrett informed the Dolphins that he won’t be suiting up in aqua and orange after all.

The Miami Dolphins signed veteran pass rusher Shaquil Barrett to a one-year deal earlier this year, but he informed the team ahead of training camp that he won’t suit up in aqua and orange after all.

Barrett announced Saturday that he has opted to retire from the NFL to spend more time with his family.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9qDK7Pys7_/

Barrett, 31, began his career with the Denver Broncos, earning a spot on the team as an undrafted free agent. While he recorded 14 sacks in four seasons with the team, his career soared after he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019.

He racked up a league-leading 19.5 sacks in his first season with Tampa Bay and earned two trips to the Pro Bowl with the team. While an Achilles tear hampered his production late in his tenure, Barrett still managed to rack up 45 sacks in five seasons.

In May 2023, tragedy struck the Barrett family when his 2-year-old daughter drowned in a backyard pool.

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WATCH: Best highlights from Shaq Barrett’s career with the Bucs

Relive all of the top plays from Shaq Barrett’s impressive run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

During the 2019 offseason, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a low-cost signing late in free agency, bringing in outside linebacker Shaq Barrett on a one-year deal.

Barrett had been a rotational player for his entire career so far with the Denver Broncos, but finally got a chance to shine as a full-time starter in Tampa Bay, and made the most of it.

Lightning in a bottle from the moment he joined the team, Barrett led the NFL with 19.5 sacks that season, breaking the Bucs’ single-season franchise record, which was previously held by Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

Barrett was also a critical part of Tampa Bay’s dominant performance in Super Bowl LV in a 31-9 victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Let’s take a look back at all of the best plays from Barrett’s time with the Bucs:

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Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb are ‘absolutely attacking’ their rehab

Mike McDaniel said the Dolphins had to mandate a week off for Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb “because they literally live” at rehab.

The Miami Dolphins finished third in the NFL in sacks last season with 56, but there are more questions than answers about the team’s stable of pass rushers right now.

In addition to losing Christian Wilkins in free agency, the Dolphins’ top two edge rushers are working to come back from serious injuries that ended their 2023 season. For Jaelan Phillips, it was a gruesome Achilles tear suffered a day after Thanksgiving. For Bradley Chubb, it was an ACL tear on New Year’s Eve.

At the NFL’s annual meeting last week, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel gave an update on Phillips and Chubb. While he was unwilling to provide reporters with a timeline for their respective recoveries, he spoke glowingly about the effort and tenacity the duo have put into rehab.

“Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips are extreme versions of, ‘Hey, we need to make sure they aren’t chasing a timeline because as competitors, they will achieve that timeline and it might be at the worst for their bodies,’” McDaniel said. “So relative to timelines, we specifically don’t have those for those two. We’ve had to mandate that they have a week off of rehab just recently, both of them, because they literally live there.

“They have a pseudo-tape on the floor parking spots for their little scooters that they’ve graduated from. They’re both really doing exactly what you’d expect from those two individuals, which is absolutely attacking that process, but doing it from a perspective that they don’t want to get healthy for one week, they want to get healthy for the whole season.”

In February, Phillips shared video of himself walking without a boot for the first time since surgery. Later that month, he told reporters at a charity event that he “feels strong and feels great.”

With the team’s top duo of rushers both recovering from injury and Andrew Van Ginkel joining the Minnesota Vikings in free agency, the Dolphins signed two-time sack artist Shaquil Barrett to provide a boost. It wouldn’t be a surprise either if the team used an early draft pick to bolster its pass rush.

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Shaquil Barrett says it’s a ‘possibility’ he’s played last snap with Bucs

See what Barrett said about his time with the Bucs and his love for Tampa Bay:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans likely have great memories of outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett in a Bucs uniform. But he may have donned the red and pewter for the last time in Tampa Bay’s 31-23 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Barrett spoke to reporters on the Monday after the game, and he confirmed that there is a possibility that the game could have been his last as a Buc. While Barrett acknowledged that there’s a real chance he could be done in Tampa Bay, he called the city his “second home” and stressed that he still wanted to remain with the Bucs if the two could make it happen.

“There’s a possibility,” Barrett said. “I’ve been around for a minute and I know with my contract and my production — and [you] got some promising young guys, that call could play a factor into it — but I would still love to be here.”

His contract will likely be the main point of contention when combined with his production. As it stands, Barrett signed a four-year, $68 million contract in 2021 — he isn’t a free agent, but that contract comes with a potential out next year with a post-June 1 cut, which would leave Tampa Bay with $26 million in dead cap. He’s getting paid quite a bit, but his production has been trending down signficantly since 2021 and he finished with just 4.5 sacks in 2023.

Barrett understands all of this. He acknowledged that there’s a business side to things, but that while he realizes that this could be the end for him and Tampa Bay, he hopes it is not and that he has a lot of great memories of the organization and all they’ve done for him.

“I understand it’s a business, but after everything that happened this year, we’re a family now, and I appreciate them for everything they did — just rocking with me, sticking with me through everything.”

If his tenure with Tampa Bay really is over, he had a great one. Barrett’s last five years in Tampa have seen him net 178 solo tackles, 45 sacks, three interceptions and 15 forced fumbles.

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Eagles eliminated from playoffs after 32-9 loss to Buccaneers

Eagles eliminated from playoffs after 32-9 loss to Buccaneers

The Eagles are set for a dramatic overhaul following the team’s shocking 32-9 loss to the Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs.

Philadelphia was 0-11 on third and fourth downs combined, tallying 268 total yards on ten offensive drives in a sloppy affair that saw missed tackles and no answer for the Tampa blitz as the Eagles were held to 38 rushing yards on the night.

Baker Mayfield outplayed Jalen Hurts, going 22-36 passing for 337 yards, three touchdowns, and 0 interceptions with a 119 quarterback rating.

Rachaad White was strong on the ground, rushing 18 times for 62 yards on the night.

The Eagles will now head into an uncertain offseason, having lost six of the final seven games played, and an overhaul could include head coach Nick Sirianni with the likes of Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick, and others available after mass changes around the league.

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