Poyer, Barrett Arrive with Something to Prove
Shaquil Barrett and Jordan Poyer have been in the NFL long enough to understand how things work, so they weren't exactly taken by surprise when they released this offseason and became free agents.
They're also two proud veterans with a lot of accomplishments on their resume, so you can bet they are coming to the Miami Dolphins with a chip on their shoulder.
More directly, both players feel they have something to prove in 2024.
“I still got a lot to prove," Barrett said. "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.”
Barrett was released this offseason by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Poyer by the Buffalo Bills after each had a down year by their standards.
Considering the realities of the salary cap and the fact that both are on the wrong side of 30 (for an NFL player), both knew this might be coming.
“I was prepared," Poyer said. "I’m always prepared. I’ve been in this league long enough to understand moves have to be made. You see guys come and go, guys get cut unexpectedly. So I was prepared. I’m in a good place in my life where I have the understanding that it is what it is, it ain’t what it ain’t. You just keep moving on and putting the next foot forward. I’m here right now with another great opportunity.”
WHAT CAN THE DOLPHINS GET FROM POYER AND BARRETT?
Poyer failed to earn postseason honors in 2023 for the first time in three years and also saw his streak of six consecutive seasons with at least two interceptions come to an end.
Barrett, meanwhile, finished with 4.5 sacks while starting 16 games, the worst sacks-per-start ratio of his career, which started with the Denver Broncos in 2015.
The Dolphins surely would love nothing better than to see Poyer record five interceptions next season, like he's already done twice in his career.
Or seeing Barrett match or even just come close to his career season of 2019 when he led the NFL in sacks with 19.5 in his first year with the Buccaneers.
Unrealistic as that might sound, Barrett is shooting for lofty goals.
“It was just amazing," Barrett recalled of the season. "Everything just aligned. The stars were aligned and it was just good to be on a team where the coaches pretty much just let me just go out and play football and knowing the scheme, I didn’t have to think too much. I was just able to read and react, so to be able to just have that trust from my coaches, trust from my teammates to go out there and get the job done just made it an amazing year and I’m excited to try to get back to that or get close to that.
“Every year I will never reach my goals obviously because my goals are 23 sacks. I want to break the record every year. I want to be the best, one of the best pass rushers to do it and I think getting the sack record would solidify that fact or make you part of the argument for it, so that’s what I be trying to go for every year. But I need to still be happy about not reaching that goal and still having 10 sacks, 12 sacks, or whatever amount of sacks I might have. But yeah, I always set the goals really lofty.”
