An otherwise successful offseason in South Beach was marred when Shaq Barrett announced his retirement from the NFL a few months after inking a new deal with the Miami Dolphins.
Barrett really made his mark as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading the NFL in sacks in 2019 at 19.5 while collecting two Super Bowl rings and two Pro Bowl trips for Todd Bowles’ defense. Barrett was originally signed by the Denver Broncos as a UDFA out of Colorado State. Even though he was ultimately cut by the organization earlier this year due to cap issues, Barrett took to Miami right away. There, he could be near his family and still have a chance to win a title almost ten years into his NFL career—that is, assuming he didn’t decide to retire.
Thankfully, the Dolphins loaded up on talent before the summer and added two promising young pass rushers to help bolster their roster in the 2024 NFL draft, including Mo Kamara, who somehow fell to the fifth round despite having Day 2 talent, and Chop Robinson, one of the class’s most divisive prospects.
Now, that being said, the Dolphins do have a rather deep rotation of pass-rushing talent coming into the fall, with veteran starters Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and just re-signed edge Emmanuel Ogbah. However, Miami will be well-positioned for long-term success if they can get some significant performance out of their rookie rushers, with one or both of their new additions projecting as elite rotational rushers in the future.
Would Barnett’s presence on the roster this autumn have been nice? Yes, he’s a very productive player, and it would have been interesting to see how he fit into a different scheme, but based on how the offseason played out, it appears that the Dolphins were aware that this might happen because they were able to add enough talent to contend with Ogbah, Phillips, and Chubb during training camp and the preseason.
Mo Kamara and Chop Robinson welcome their battle with the Dolphins.
Barrett’s official retirement from the NFL means that the Dolphins will now need to throw their rookie rushers into the South Florida water and hope they can swim immediately, rather than having the pass rush go down the drain.
Thankfully, Robinson and Kamara, who work well together, are rising to the challenge, even though one of their shows will probably take precedence over the other. Nevertheless, the Dolphins will emerge victorious if they can leverage this low-key rivalry to reach their desired destination.
Robinson told reporters via Pro Football Network, “He always talks trash.” “He always wants to compete in anything we did in training, whether it was the slip, the get-offs, or the weight room. He’s just competing like that. Because it’s pushing both of us, I was cool with it.
“Our relationship is one of friendly-hatred,” Kamara said. But that right there is my dude. We will always support one another in every manner. We were simply competing most of the time. For the most part, it was just a realization of how talented he is and how talented I am as well. I’m just attempting to get there, then. There was a reason he went first round.
The two will always be each other’s biggest admirers because of their pre-draft friendship, even though they are quick with a joke and will undoubtedly use their summer to carve out quality positions on the Dolphins coming fall.
“Mo is an exceptional man. Although he can pass rush, I think a lot of people make fun of his size and other attributes. He is able to halt the sprint. “Everything you’ve seen on tape, he can do,” Robinson said. “He recorded it so you could see it. Mo and I already had a strong bond from our time spent training together in Arizona. We became brothers during the entire process. Therefore, we’re just going to stay together and help everyone along.
While the Dolphins’ pass rush is currently going through some changes due to the addition of several new players to replace some of Vic Fangio’s favorite players, getting big plays from Robinson and Kamara will be crucial to the team’s long-term success because they may still be in the middle of their rookie contracts when Chubb retires.
At ClutchPoints, Matty Breisch is a versatile writer with a focus on WWE material. You can read about him at ClutchPoints, Fansided, Philadelphia Sports Network, and Heavy. To read about wrestling, are you ready? You’ve arrived to the proper location, then.