Will adding Shaq Barrett give Dolphins’ pass rush a ‘well-oiled machine?’

Shaq Barrett fully understands the business of the NFL.

So, when he totaled just 4.5 sacks for the Buccaneers this past season and was set to have a $14.1 million cap number in 2024, he knew that his five-year run in Tampa could be coming to an end.

But Barrett, who turns 32 in November, still feels like he can contribute good football for a Dolphins defense whose pass rush could rely on him heavily at the beginning of the 2024 season.

“I still got a lot to prove,” Barrett said Monday during an introductory news conference. “Especially getting cut from another team. That adds another whole fuel to the fire right there. The Dolphins are going to be happy they signed me. Tampa is going to be mad they let me go because this year that I’m planning on having and the success that we’re about to have as a team is going to be amazing.”

After a five-year stint with the Buccaneers that included a Super Bowl win, Tampa officially released Barrett last week. With Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips rehabbing from significant leg injuries that could threaten their availability for the start of the 2024 season, Miami added an accomplished pass rusher in Barrett during the first wave of free agency. Miami signed Barrett to a one-year deal worth up to $9 million.

In nine seasons, Barrett has 59 career sacks. He’s also a two-time Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro selection who won a pair of Super Bowls with the Buccaneers and Denver Broncos.

Barrett reunites with Chubb, whom he was teammates with during Chubb’s rookie season in Denver in 2018.

“I knew Chubb was going to be the man,” Barrett said. “And we all did, honestly. We’re always rooting for each other. We all compete with each other but we all root for each other. We’re still brothers at the end of the day. It was just nice to be able to see that he’s doing everything that we thought he could do and more.”

If one or both of Chubb and Phillips aren’t ready for Week 1, Barrett could step in as a starter. And when both are back on the field, Barrett gives Miami quality depth, especially with Andrew Van Ginkel signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

“The team that they have here, the potential to get the job done, to go on a run and be hoisting the trophy at the end of the year,” Barrett said of his decision to sign with the Dolphins. “And then the group of guys that they’ve got in the outside linebacker room is a great group of guys. I would love to be a part of that and I know they’re hurting and nursing injuries right now, so my role may be just to hold it down until they come back and then become a well-oiled machine when everyone gets back. I’m just ready for whatever my role is and just to help take this team and defense to the next level.”

In 2022, the Dolphins got a strong season from a 30-year-old pass rusher, Melvin Ingram, who totaled six sacks and was a respected presence in the locker room. Miami’s hoping Barrett has a similar impact and can bring championship pedigree to a new-look Dolphins defense with several additions.

“We had players at every level who could make plays, literally playmakers throughout the whole entire defense, and we all fed off of that,” Barrett said of his championship defenses in Tampa Bay and Denver. “... Then when guys went down and got hurt, the next guy stepped in and was able to be a playmaker as well. So just having them playmakers right there and then having a mindset and mentality of being dawgs, not just coming out there playing football, but playing football like with a mentality that we have to dominate and we ain’t taking nothing from nobody.”