Shaquil Barrett did what was best for himself and his family by abruptly retiring.
His decision to leave the NFL after nine seasons less than a week before the start of training camp could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Miami Dolphins on three fronts because it creates a ton of cap space, opportunity for young players to blossom and a roster spot that can be filled by one of numerous veterans available.
Barrett’s exit, and the fact Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Cameron Goode will all open training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list while they rehab their serious injuries, means both Chop Robinson and Mohamed Kamara will be front runners to become day one starters.
While neither of Miami’s draft picks will be gifted the starting roles — required to earn it in training camp and the exhibition season — there’s only practice squad players (Quinton Bell), a career special teams contributor (Cam Brown), and undrafted rookies (Zeke Vanderburgh and Grayson Murphy) for them to compete with.
However, one of the toughest transitions from college to the NFL is a pass rusher’s ability to set the edge, which is creating the run defense’s perimeter.
“It’s a mentality,” said outside linebacker coach Ryan Crow, a new assistant added this offseason after spending seven years with the Titans. “It’s the first thing they learn when they get here and it’s more than just talk. They have to do it every single day. It’s something we never gloss over. When we talk about it, we mean it. It has to be part of their DNA.”
Robinson is a freaky 6-foot-3, 254-pound athlete with a great pass rush get-off, which is why the Dolphins selected the former Penn State standout 21st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, his leaner frame works against him when setting the edge, and his hand use needs to be polished up so he doesn’t lose point of impact battles against NFL offensive tackles, who are bigger and stronger than what regularly faced in college.
As for Kamara, who produced 30.5 sacks in the 49 games he played for Colorado State the past five seasons, he’s an undersized (6-foot-1, 248 pounds) try-hard player whose high motor impressed the Dolphins. But he’s more comfortable going north and south and at times he struggles moving laterally, which could become an issue in run defense.
Fortunately for the Dolphins, Phillips (Achilles) and Chubb (ACL), the team’s two starting edge players, should be closer to a making a full recovery from their injuries by some point in October or November. And if they don’t suffer a setback, and remain on the PUP when the 53-man roster is created in August, they will only be forced to sit out four games while residing on either the PUP or injured reserve.
Miami can also lean on Calais Campbell’s run-setting prowess for the first month of the season. Even though Campbell ranks third in the NFL when it comes to sacks (105.5) from active players, the 2010’s member of the NFL’s All-Decade team is known as one of the best edge-setting, five-technique defensive ends. It’s possible he could set the edge for Miami on early downs, and then move inside to play defensive tackle on passing downs.
However, that’s potentially a lot of snaps for a 37-year-old to play.
The Dolphins will regain Barrett’s signing bonus and cap space, giving the team $7 million in additional cap space, bringing the team’s cap space total to roughly $19 million.
With that kind of money Miami can pull off just about any trade, and get a favorable deal done with any of the available free agents. T
The Dolphins annually assess the roster needs the week before training camp, hosting a few workouts and signing a veteran or two, so expect general manager Chris Grier to kick the tires on a few veterans for tryouts in the coming days.
Emmanuel Ogbah, who produced 20 tackles, 5 sacks, one forced fumble and one interception in 246 defensive snaps for Miami last season, is coming in for a workout according to the NFL Network. Ogbah is a better fit for new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s scheme than he was for Vic Fangio’s scheme last year.
Yannick Ngakoue (69 sacks in eight seasons) and Tyus Bowser (a 2017 second-round pick who has produced 19.5 sacks and 23 starts for the Ravens) could be the front-runners to replace Barrett because they each played under Weaver in Baltimore.
Anthony Barr (18.5 career sacks in 10 seasons), Markus Golden (51 career sacks, including four in 16 games for Pittsburgh last season), Shaq Lawson (26 career sacks in eight seasons), Carl Lawson (27 sacks in six seasons), and Charles Harris (Miami’s 2017 first-round pick) are also possibilities.
It’s possible that some of those players are looking for prominent roles, or hope to sign for more than the one-year, $1.6 million to $2 million deal the Dolphins have been handing out all offseason to aged veterans such as Campbell, defensive linemen Neville Gallimore, Jonathan Harris, Da’Shawn Hand, safeties Marcus Maye and Jordan Poyer, and a few others.
Also, most teams wait till week two of the regular season to add vested veterans because then their contracts won’t be guaranteed for the entire season. So it’s possible that for one reason or another better players, who might already be on a team’s training camp roster, will become dislodged, and the Dolphins might be in position to add them.
However, to get to that point the Dolphins will need all of its edge players to be productive, and remain healthy for training camp and the three exhibition games, which is unlikely. And that’s why the Dolphins will likely be searching for Barrett’s reinforcements this week.
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