A Pro Bowl pass-rusher has just been made available

In March, Shaquil Barrett — who made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2021 — was released from his four-year, $72 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Within a week from his release, he signed a new deal with the Miami Dolphins.

To the Dolphins’ surprise, though, Barrett never suited up for the team. Instead, he decided to retire in July and spend more time with his family. Over the last month, Barrett has changed course, stating his intention to return to the NFL.

From there, the ball was in Miami’s court. At the moment, the Dolphins have a very slim chance of making the postseason, but apparently not enough of a chance to warrant paying Barrett’s salary moving forward. On Thursday, Miami finally waived Barrett without activating him from the reserve/retired list.

What does this mean? If anyone claims Barrett, they will have his rights going into next offseason, but he’ll be ineligible to participate in either the regular season or the postseason. If he clears waivers, though, he will be eligible to come off of the reserve/retired list and help a team with a playoff push.

According to NFL Pro, Barrett led the Buccaneers with 563 snaps played on the edge during the 2023 season. For those snaps, he recorded a 13.4 percent pressure rate. For perspective, that is a higher pressure rate than all but one of the Packers’ three most-played edge defenders this season — Rashan Gary, 13.8 percent.

Who knows what type of shape Barrett is in currently, but the addition of him — or fellow Dolphin Calais Campbell — could give the Packers just a little boost in the pass rushing department.