Three wins for OL Aaron Brewer in his new contract extension with the Miami Dolphins
Where should center Aaron Brewer feel best about his “wins” in a negotiation with the Miami Dolphins?
The Miami Dolphins and center Aaron Brewer have a deal.
It was reported last night that the Dolphins and Brewer have agreed to terms on a three-year, $52.5 million contract extension. It will keep the second-team All-Pro center playing in the heart of Miami’s offensive line. A regime change be damned! Some players are just good enough for you to know they deserve a long-term seat at the table. Consider Brewer among those ranks. Every contract has pros and cons. Where should Brewer feel best about his deal with Miami? Here are three elements of his new reported contract that feel like ‘wins’ for Brewer.
Three wins for OL Aaron Brewer in his new contract extension with the Miami Dolphins
1. Third-highest annual average on a center contract…ever!
The rising rate of the salary cap in recent years is almost single-handedly assuring that contracts are sitting near the top of the all-time charts when measuring annual average salary. But Brewer’s $17.5 million annual average on a three-year deal does indeed sit only behind Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey and Las Vegas’ Tyler Linderbaum in the all-time ranks of center contracts. It’s not necessarily a position that sees a lot of upper echelon contracts paid out, either. That means there’s a good chance this is the company that Brewer will be keeping for a while.
2. Highest total value among active center contracts for a player older than 25 at signing
Brewer’s $52.5 million in total value with the Miami Dolphins ranks fifth among active center contracts. That’s behind Linderbaum ($81M), Humphrey ($72M), Philadelphia’s Cam Jurgens ($68M), and New Orleans’ Erik McCoy ($60M). But all four of those contracts were signed by players who were 25 years old or younger at the time of signing.
Brewer will put pen to paper on his contract as a 28 year old veteran — and his $52.5M in total value sits $500,000 more than what the Buffalo Bills gave Connor McGovern earlier this offseason. McGovern was also 28 years old at signing, although his contract was a four-year deal as compared to a three-year deal for Brewer. Either way, “Brew” comes out on top.
3. A three-year extension versus a 4-year deal
Accordingly, the ability to get back into the market for another new contract is going to be tighter for Aaron Brewer than it would be for those younger players. He’ll be 32 years old by the time he’s now scheduled to hit free agency. If he got another new extension entering the final year of his new contract, he’d be 31 years old.
It at least leaves the door open for another strong contract in Brewer’s future. Elgton Jenkins just got $12 million annually on a tw0-year deal with the Cleveland Browns this offseason at the age of 30. So sizable money can still be out there. But had Brewer agreed to a four-year deal, getting another notable contract would have looked even tougher.
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