Two-time Super Bowl winner Shaq Barrett cleared to make stunning NFL return weeks after unretiring

Miami Dolphins are waiving Shaq Barrett from their reserved/retried list, clearing the way for the two-time Super Bowl winner to return to the NFL just before the playoffs.

Barrett retired in the offseason, a year after his daughter drowned at their family home, before changing his mind in November.

But at the time, the Dolphins chose not to activate him off the list or release him to join a rival team, leaving Barrett in limbo.

Now, however, the Dolphins are letting him go and if he clears waivers on Friday, he can play again this season. If a team claims him before then, he will be ineligible.

'We appreciate the Dolphins giving Shaq this opportunity to continue his career in the NFL, his agent Drew Rosenhaus was quoted as saying by Adam Schefter.

'Hopefully he will pass through waivers and become a free agent so he can play again this season. He is in great shape and would be ready to play immediately.'

It could mean that Barrett goes from the NFL wilderness into a team competing for the Super Bowl, with the playoffs on the horizon. 

Barrett, 32, won Super Bowl 50 in 2015 with the Denver Broncos and Super Bowl LV in 2021 with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Barrett was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February, shortly before he signed for the Dolphins and then retired, missing out on a $15.04million option bonus he was due in March. 

He stepped away from the game to spend more time with his young family after his two-year-old daughter Arrayah drowned in their family swimming pool in April 2023.

'This is a daily battle. Tough battle,' Barrett said in July 2023. 'Her smile -- I just miss her so much. Her energy, just like putting her to bed every night, reading stories.

'She just brought so much brightness and wholeness and completeness to our lives. And we most definitely have a big, big, big, big, big hole in our hearts and our lives that we won't be able to fill.'