Big defensive changes for Miami ahead of Thanksgiving matchup

The Dolphins have had some big news come up in the last few days, specifically regarding their defense. Miami is traveling out to the midwest to play the Green Bay Packers on Thursday for a primetime Thanksgiving matchup. There have been multiple moves made by Miami that need to be talked about, let’s get into it. 


First off, it was announced today that Shaq Barrett will be returning from retirement in hopes to help a defense of a team with playoff hopes. This past offseason, Barrett signed with the Dolphins to a 1 year 8 million dollar deal to boost their edge room. 

One day before training camp, Barrett announced he was retiring from the NFL. It was a tough time in Barrett’s life, he had to deal with the difficulties of losing his daughter this past offseason. This is every mans worst nightmare, what he was dealing with must have been awful. No one blames Barrett for needing to retire and take time away from the game to help his family. 

Barrett is back and ready to play the sport he loves now, and said he would be willing to come back to Miami if the opportunity is out there. Miami holds the contractual rights to Shaq Barrett, so they would have to trade him if Barrett would like to play for another team. As of right now, it seems Miami would be the favorite to play Barrett; they need help on the edge as their top two guys are still injured and it was Barretts choice to play in the offseason. It makes the most sense to see Barrett help an edge rushing group of Chop Robinson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Quinton Bell, and Tyus Bowser. 

Some more news from the Dolphins end today, they have announced they are releasing Marcus Maye while promoting Patrick McMorris from their injured reserve. Marcus Maye, the former Florida Gator, is a veteran who was brought in on a cheap deal by Miami this offseason. Maye has been the Dolphins third safety behind Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer this season, and has not been very productive this offseason. Some Dolphins fans thought it would be Poyer cut, but as a proven starter and veteran leader in this league Miami had no plans to cut him. 

McMorris was Miami’s 6th round pick this previous NFL draft, and impressed the coaching staff in preseason play. Dolphins fans are excited to see McMorris’ development and ability on display if he gets limited snaps the remainder of this season.