When Shaq Barrett retired in July, it appeared his playing days were over. That decision came not long after he had signed a one-year Dolphins deal, a pact he could have played out over the closing weeks of the campaign had he been reinstated before yesterday’s deadline. 
Instead, Miami elected to keep Barrett on the reserve/retired list, choosing to take that route rather than waiving him and therefore opening the door to finishing out the season on a different team. The situation developed quickly, with the two-time Super Bowl champion’s application for reinstatement only taking place on Tuesday. The Dolphins were caught off guard by the move and ultimately committed to their edge rush options already on the roster.
As detailed by Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network, Miami was unaware of Barrett’s desire to play in 2024 until his attempt to be reinstated was made. He adds that many around the league were of the belief the two-time Pro Bowler intended to be let go upon being activated and join another team, something the Dolphins prevented. When speaking about the matter, head coach Mike McDaniel said “the timing wasn’t necessarily ideal” to bring Barrett in, adding his preference that “the players who deserve to be here” remain on the active roster.
“It wasn’t any measured situation like that posturing one way or the other,” McDaniel added when speaking to the media about the Barrett situation. “Like I said we just found out on a day that I had a press conference… 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.”
Barrett’s contract will toll, meaning Miami will still control his rights next season. For now, the team will move forward with an edge rush group which lost Jaelan Phillips for the season and will be without Tyus Bowser for the foreseeable future. Bradley Chubb has yet to make his season debut, but that could happen before the campaign is over. Chubb continues to rehab his 2023 ACL tear, and if he returns to action he will take on a notable role alongside first-round rookie Chop Robinson. Regardless of if that happens or not, Barrett will not play a part down the stretch.
Dolphins look like the bad guys but I don’t really blame them for not activating him. If he really wanted to come back and play for the Dolphins, he would’ve let the Dolphins know days/weeks ago and work with them on a plan to get back into shape and whatnot. Some playoff-bound team probably reached out to him recently asking him to come back and they probably hoped the Dolphins would make the simple choice of cutting him rather than trying to figure out how to fit him on their roster.
I don’t see the point in preventing him from leaving though. He never played a down for them. He signed a one year deal and changed his mind. He retires. Changes his mind again and wants to play. Just waive him and let him do what he wants, what do the dolphins get out of preventing him to leave other than just being jerks?
I suppose it’s competitive advantage, but it sure does feel like serfdom. From Miami’s point of view, I do see how Barrett didn’t live up to his word in some way, but it feels like he should be able to give any money back that he may have received or let them off the hook for the rest, right?
It is a little disrespectful on Barrett’s part, but it doesn’t feel like Miami should be able to hold him hostage at the same time, especially if he didn’t actually receive anything from them. I suppose they don’t want to set the precedent that players could simply “retire” to get out contracts with teams that they don’t want to play for. In defense of that view, this would be bad. I’m sure that there’s some middle ground that would be better-like, for instance, the player not being able to play this year, but the contract not tolling, or the new team forfeiting a low pick to the old team by default.
Hard to tell what he was thinking. If some team did reach out to him, it might be considered tampering since he was still under contract with Dolphins. He might just have wanted to come back to get a year credit toward pension. In any event, if he had approached the Dolphins earlier and tried to work out something they might have worked out something. Just saying I want to retire out of the blue, nit cool.
He was signed for seven million with the chance to earn up to nine million. Nothing about that speaks to serfdom.