Dolphins to waive Shaq Barrett, per report, former Pro Bowl pass rusher had previously unretired

The Miami Dolphins have parted ways with Shaq Barrett. The team is waiving the former Pro Bowl pass rusher from the reserve/retired list on Friday, according to ESPN. After announcing his retirement from the NFL back in July, the two-time Super Bowl champion applied for reinstatement from the league in late November to pursue a comeback. However, the Dolphins elected not to activate Barrett on their roster, which ultimately led to this departure. 

Barrett will be subject to waivers, which adds an interesting wrinkle to his hopes to play this season. If another team claims him, he will be ineligible to play for the rest of the year. However, if he clears waivers on Friday, he will be free to sign with whatever team he wants/will have him. 

“We appreciate the Dolphins giving Shaq this opportunity to continue his career in the NFL,” Drew Rosenhaus, Barrett’s agent, said in a statement to ESPN. “Hopefully, he will pass through waivers and become a free agent so he can play again this season. He is in great shape and would be ready to play immediately.”

Under the assumption the 32-year-old clears waivers, it will be fascinating to see where he ends up. Over the summer, Barrett made headlines on the  “Up & Adams” show, where he indicated that the only team he’d come out of retirement for would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who he played five seasons with from 2019-2023. 

However, the Buccaneers are currently outside of the playoff picture at 8-7 and the No. 8 seed in the conference. Tampa Bay’s easiest path to the playoffs is simply winning out and having the Atlanta Falcons lose one of their final two games of the year. That would thrust the Bucs into first place in the NFC South and stamp their ticket into the playoffs. So, if Barrett still has eyes for a Buccaneers reunion, it could be worth waiting to see how Week 17 unfolds because if Tampa Bay is upset by Carolina, his comeback will have lasted just over a week. 

If he goes unclaimed, Barrett will be eligible to play Week 18 and the playoffs. 

In 131 regular season games, Barrett has posted 400 total tackles and 59 career sacks. Last season, he played 16 games for the Buccaneers and had 52 tackles to go with 4.5 sacks.