The last unfinished piece of the Miami Dolphins‘ extension checklist is coming into focus. Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald believes Jordyn Brooks — ranked the NFL’s No. 7 off-ball linebacker by ESPN’s panel last week — will settle for something short of the top of the linebacker market, with Pro Football Rumors relaying Sunday that his camp is thought to be targeting a deal in the range of the three-year, $54 million contract Azeez Al-Shaair signed with Houston in May.
Brooks, 28, is due $7.82 million in 2026, the final year of his current deal, and his timing at the negotiating table could hardly be better. He led the league with 183 tackles last season, added 3.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss, and earned the first first-team All-Pro nod of his career. Pro Football Focus graded him 11th among 88 qualified linebackers, with a 92.0 run-defense mark that ranked top three at the position. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan called Brooks one of the three pillars he wanted to build around when he took the job; De’Von Achane and Aaron Brewer have already signed their extensions.
The interesting part is where the number lands. The top of the off-ball market now sits at $20 million per year and up, and an All-Pro season leading the league in tackles is normally the resume that gets a player there. If Brooks’ side is anchoring to the Al-Shaair deal instead, the lever becomes structure: Al-Shaair’s contract carried $38.75 million fully guaranteed at signing. A sub-$20 million average with a strong guarantee would be a clean compromise for a new front office that has moved quickly on its first two priority deals.
Kelly also does not expect Brooks to stage a hold-in when veterans report July 28, and Brooks’ own words back that up. “I need to get better as a player, so that’s why I show up,” he said of his OTA attendance this spring, adding that he never wants to send the wrong message to teammates. For a defense Jeff Hafley is rebuilding around Brooks’ sideline-to-sideline range, that is the quietest possible version of a contract year — and camp is the natural window to end it with a signature.
For fantasy purposes, the stakes are mostly in IDP formats, where Brooks’ league-leading tackle volume made him a top-shelf linebacker last season. No hold-in means no missed camp reps in a new scheme year, and an extension would lock in the every-down role that drives his floor. Dynasty IDP managers can hold with confidence either way.
