Dolphins decline Barrett's offer to return and play for them. And Huntley activated

MIAMI — The Dolphins on Thursday decided that they would not take linebacker Shaq Barrett up on his offer to come out of retirement and play for them this season.

Miami also activated quarterback Tyler Huntley off injured reserve and placed linebacker Tyus Bowser on IR.

Per NFL rules regarding the matter, Miami faced a 4 p.m. Thursday deadline to remove Barrett, 32, from the reserve/retired list and move him to the active roster. Despite Bowser’s injury, Miami decided not to activate Barrett, who hasn’t participated in an NFL practice since June.

According to a league source, the Dolphins also will not release Barrett to allow him to sign with another team this season. So even though Barrett is applying to the NFL for reinstatement from retirement (a procedural move), he will essentially remain retired, unable to collect a salary or play for another team.

Miami owns his rights because of the one-year contract he signed with the Dolphins in March. What’s more, as NFL Network reported, a player cannot retire and then become a free agent at the end of the season. So the Dolphins will still own Barrett’s rights in 2025.

Barrett’s decision to come out of retirement shocked the Dolphins; he did not personally call Mike McDaniel before the news broke, and McDaniel said a media report was the first he heard of Barrett’s decision to come back and play.

The Dolphins remain in a precarious situation at outside linebacker.

Miami entered Thursday’s game with four outside linebackers on the 53-man roster — rookies Chop Robinson and Mo Kamara and veterans Emmanuel Ogbah and Quinton Bell. And now Bowser is out at least four games because of knee and calf injuries; he has been playing significant defensive snaps the past eight games.

Starting outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and backup Cameron Goode remain on the physically unable to perform list after sustaining knee injuries late last season. Neither has yet been able to begin practicing, but McDaniel reiterated last week that he expects Chubb to play this season, and that Goode is further along than Chubb.

The Dolphins entered Thursday with just $3.7 million in cap space, and activating Barrett would have significantly eaten into that money.

In March, Barrett signed a one-year, $7 million contract that could be worth as much as $9 million with incentives. The deal included a $5.5 million signing bonus. If Miami had brought him back, he would have been due a prorated portion of that salary.

Barrett released a statement on Instagram when he retired four days before the start of training camp in July: “It’s time for me to hang it up,” Barrett said at the time. “It’s been a great ride, and I appreciate everything that came with it over the years. I’m ready to shift my full focus to my wife and kids and helping them realize [their] dreams and catch ‘em.

“Anyone who caught their dreams before know the work, time and consistency required to reach them. I’m ready to start building them skills up in my kids, which will take 100% commitment. [I know] to some it’ll be a surprise but I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the decision has never been more clear than it is now.”

Barrett had 52 tackles (including three for loss) and 4.5 sacks, an interception and three forced fumbles in 16 games for Tampa Bay last season, all starts.

As for Huntley, his return from injured reserve this week was a mild surprise because he hasn’t participated in a practice since sustaining a shoulder injury against Indianapolis on Oct. 20.

Miami now has three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster: Tua Tagovailoa, Skylar Thompson and Huntley. Quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell said recently that there would be a competition for the No. 2 job between Thompson and Huntley after Huntley returned.

Huntley went 1-2 with a 73.9 passer rating in three starts filling in when Tagovailoa missed four games with a concussion.

Thompson, who started the first game after Tagovailoa’s concussion (a 24-3 loss to Seattle), entered last Sunday’s win against New England but was removed after two snaps, following a fumbled handoff to Jaylen Wright that the Patriots returned for a touchdown. McDaniel said after that game that he still trusts Thompson but didn’t like how the Dolphins exited the huddle on that play.

NFL teams can bring back eight players from injured reserve during the regular season, and Huntley is the fifth Dolphin to be activated off IR this year, joining Tagovailoa, cornerback Cam Smith, receiver River Cracraft and safety Patrick McMorris.

Elevation for game

For Thursday’s game, the Dolphins elevated long snapper Zach Triner, who has appeared in 81 games in six seasons with Tampa Bay (2019-24). Miami opted not to elevate a second player.

McDaniel has said that Blake Ferguson - who has been back with the team for weeks - will play again this season. But Thursday will mark the seventh game he has missed since going on the non-football injured reserve list due to personal reasons. If Ferguson returns, he would become the sixth of the maximum eight Dolphins permitted to return off IR this season.

Triner, who can be elevated three times, becomes the third long snapper used by the Dolphins since Ferguson went on IR. Former practice squad long snappers Matt Overton and Tucker Addington were each elevated the maximum three times before Addington was released this week.

Special teams coordinator Danny Crossman said it would not be feasible to go an entire season without a long snapper on the 53-man roster and instead simply shuffle through practice squad long snappers, using each of their three elevations. But the Dolphins have now gone seven weeks with that approach.

Maye claimed

The Chargers claimed safety Marcus Maye off waivers from the Dolphins, thus thwarting Miami’s reported plan to add him to the practice squad.

The Dolphins released Maye this week to create a roster spot for rookie safety McMorris, who had been sidelined since an August calf injury sustained in a practice with Tampa Bay.

Guard Lester Cotton, who was released when Miami activated Isaiah Wynn on Monday, was claimed by New England earlier this week.