Miami Dolphins' refusal to allow a player to play in 2024 actually makes sense beneath the surface
Edge rusher Shaq Barrett made waves earlier this week when it was reported that he was seeking to come out of retirement. That caught the Miami Dolphins off guard a bit, it appeared. Now, the Dolphins have made a decision on their offseason acquisition: sorry, not this year. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Dolphins […]
Edge rusher Shaq Barrett made waves earlier this week when it was reported that he was seeking to come out of retirement. That caught the Miami Dolphins off guard a bit, it appeared.
Now, the Dolphins have made a decision on their offseason acquisition: sorry, not this year.
Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Dolphins decided not to activate Barrett by the 4:00 pm ET deadline. As a result, Barrett won't be able to return this season.
The decision is one that, at the surface, might seem confusing to some fans. Why wouldn't the Dolphins want to get an experienced reinforcement at a key position that's been affected by injury? Jaelan Phillips was lost for the season with a knee injury, and Bradley Chubb still isn't ready to practice after tearing his ACL almost a year ago.
However, there are a number of reasons it was wise for Miami to say no to a reunion with Barrett this season.
It's always about the money
The Dolphins paid Barrett a $5.54 million signing bonus as part of his contract this offseason. With Barrett retiring, they have been set to be able to recoup that money, potentially earning them cap space next season (the cap hit for the signing bonus was prorated to $1.108 million in 2024 and $4.432 million in 2025). Allowing him to play would jeopardize that possibility.
Getting more next year than this year
Because contracts toll while players are on the retired list, players who are in their final year of a deal then retire are still under contractual control of their team when they return.
As such, the Dolphins would hold the rights to Barrett for the 2025 season should they not activate him over the season's final six games. That gives them a couple of better options long term. Either he's available for a full season, or they have an offseason to try to work out a trade. Either is a better situation for Miami.
Is Barrett anywhere close to game ready?
There's a training camp and a preseason for a reason. It takes time for players to ramp up and get ready for the season physically, as well as get up to game speed.
Barrett, if he's been staying in shape to play, hasn't been on a football field since January, when the Buccaneers were eliminated by the Lions in the NFC Divisional Round. Miami is also getting good production out of rookie Chop Robinson right now, along with solid play from Calais Campbell and Emmanuel Ogbah. There's hope that Chubb will return before the end of the season as well, although that timetable is unknown still.
As such, while it seems like would have been helpful for the Dolphins to add Barrett to the roster, there were plenty of reasons that made sense for Miami to decline to do so. Now, we'll see what the Dolphins decide to do with the veteran defender going forward and perhaps into the offseason.
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