Fins FA signing says Miami stole him from NY Jets at last minute

Shaquil Barrett was on the verge of joining the New York Jets

The New York Jets’ interest in free agent edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney has been publicized over the past week-plus. Clowney reportedly met with the Jets a few days ago, although there have been no reports on how the meeting went.

What we didn’t know until now is that the Jets almost signed a different veteran edge rusher.

Appearing on the Zach Gelb Show, now-Miami Dolphins edge rusher Shaquil Barrett said he believed he would be joining the Jets all the way up until Miami “came out of left field” on the same day that he ended up signing.

Here is the clip of Shaq Barrett telling me he thought he was going to land with the Jets and then the Dolphins came out of nowhere and signed him last second. @CBSSportsRadio @560WQAM @WFAN660 https://t.co/4wte48xh1d pic.twitter.com/LDidrvABLY

— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) March 22, 2024

“My agent was talking to me about potentially going to New York, and it was New York all the way up until, I don’t remember what day I signed, but it was New York until the day I ended up agreeing to terms with the Dolphins. And they just came out of left field.”

Barrett agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $9 million. The agreement was reported by Adam Schefter at 11:54 a.m. on Tuesday, March 12, less than 24 hours after the legal tampering window opened. Based on Barrett’s comments, this means the Jets were pursuing him straight out of the gates.

The 31-year-old will stay in Florida after spending the last five seasons with the Buccaneers, recording 45 sacks. Barrett explained that remaining in Florida was a key part of his decision to choose Miami over New York.

“No state tax. That helps out a lot. … Thinking of my family, I had to factor that in a little bit, too. Now we’ll be able to stay in our Tampa home, they can stay with their homeschool teacher. Then we figured out they can do one week up here and one week down there with me in Miami, so that part factored in a lot as well, not having to really uproot everything just for one year. It would suck to have to do that.”

With documented interest in both Clowney and Barrett, it’s clear the Jets are interested in adding to their edge unit after losing Bryce Huff to the Philadelphia Eagles. Notable free agent edge rushers who remain available include Emmanuel Ogbah, Randy Gregory, Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, Jerry Hughes, and Bud Dupree.

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