Linebacker Shaquil Barrett, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos, announced his retirement Saturday.
“I’m ready to shift my full focus to my wife and kids and helping them realize there dreams,” Barrett wrote as part of an Instagram post. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the decision has never been more clear then it is right now.”
Barrett had signed a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in March after being released by the Buccaneers in a cost-cutting move.
The 31-year old Barrett spent five seasons in Tampa, including the 2020 campaign that resulted in a Super Bowl title with quarterback Tom Brady at the helm.
Barrett and his family suffered a tragedy in April 2023 when his 2-year-old daughter, Arrayah, drowned in the family’s pool. He returned for the start of the 2023 season and registered 4.5 sacks and 52 combined tackles, including 33 solo tackles.
An undrafted free agent out of Colorado State in 2015, Barrett has 59 career sacks in nine seasons for the Bucs and the Broncos, with whom he captured his first Super Bowl title in 2015.
He led the NFL with a franchise-record 19.5 sacks in 2019, his first season with Tampa Bay. Barrett reached double-digit sacks in just one other season: 2021, with 10.
After releasing Emmanuel Ogbah and losing Andrew Van Ginkel to free agency, the Dolphins signed Barrett to provide veteran depth to their outside linebackers room. The team placed linebackers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb on the active/physically unable to perform list prior to the start of training camp on July 23, which paved a path for Barrett to play significant snaps until their returns.
With Barrett’s retirement, rookies Chop Robinson and Mo Kamara are currently the team’s top two healthy edge rushers; veteran Cameron Goode was also placed on the PUP list alongside Phillips and Chubb.
ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this report.
