Miami Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks got the ultimate compliment from his new defensive coordinator Sean Duggan on Wednesday.

Duggan, during his introductory press conference with the South Florida media, said that Brooks’ style of play was “awesome to watch” and called it “inspiring” to watch on film. The NFL’s All-Pro voters seemed to agree, as Brooks was named first-team All-Pro for his play in 2025. With the Dolphins set to strip down their salary cap and reset their books, Brooks is set to play 2026 in a contract year. But he’s now gotten votes of confidence from both Duggan and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, which means he may be a prime candidate for a contract extension this offseason as a long-term building block.

What could a Jordyn Brooks contract extension look like this offseason for the Dolphins?

If the Dolphins want to be proactive with any player extensions, Brooks is about as good of a place as you can start. He’s been very good to elite across his two seasons in Miami. He just turned 28 years old, meaning an extension should carry him through the tail end of his prime years — but instinctive off-ball linebackers can still go well into their mid-30s. It may not be the idea position to pay top dollar to, but Miami is a team that needs to be better in the business of holding on to their elite players. Brooks is one and has a window of top play left on the table.

As another note, there is plenty of focus on Miami’s 2026 salary cap situation. But with a potential purge looming, it’s worth noting that Miami is very quickly going to find themselves with minimal long-term commitments and maximum spending power. The Dolphins currently have just three players that were not rookies in 2025 that are currently under contract 24 months from now: QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Jaylen Waddle, and DT Zach Sieler. Tagovailoa is expected to have his contract terminated or traded this offseason.

The Dolphins are about to be a blank slate. And, accordingly, committing to a few players with proof of concept as top talents at their respective positions is going to be necessary to start creating a competitive roster. A Brooks extension could be a step in that process.

I’ve taken a look at linebacker contracts across the league in an effort to find the right market and expectation for a possible Brooks extension. Names near the top of the annual average salary of the position are San Francisco’s Fred Warner, Baltimore’s Roquan Smith, Chicago’s Tremaine Edmunds, Philadelphia’s Zack Baun, Kansas City’s Nick Bolton, and New York’s Jamien Sherwood. All make between $15 million to $21 million on an annual average salary basis.

But not all contract extensions are created equally. Brooks is 28 years old. Comparing his contract circumstances to Smith and Edmunds is tough, given that they were 25 and 24 years old respectively when those deals were signed. Some of these top contracts are, however, quite applicable.

What contracts do you need to know for their potential impact on a Jordyn Brooks extension?

Three contracts to know that are relevant to Jordyn Brooks’ potential extension talks

LB Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers

AGE AT SIGNING: 28 years old in 2025
TERMS OF CONTRACT: Three years, $63 million ($21M annual average, 7.52% of 2025 salary cap)

The Warner deal currently holds the top spot for annual average salary for an off-ball linebacker. He was the same age that Brooks was now when he signed, with both players coming off of First-Team All-Pro seasons. The good news for Miami was Warner was a First-Team All-Pro for three straight seasons before landing this deal. Brooks hasn’t quite been that accomplished. Then again, the salary cap is rising $20 million or more on an annual basis…

LB Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles

AGE AT SIGNING: 28 years old in 2025
TERMS OF CONTRACT: Three years, $51 million ($17M annual average, 6.09% of 2025 salary cap)

Baun’s career trajectory isn’t quite as consistent as Brooks. But Baun was a First-Team All-Pro in 2024 while enjoying a breakout campaign for Vic Fangio in Philadelphia and he parlayed that season into this current contract extension, which parks him fourth in annual average salary (Warner, Smith, and Edmunds) and percentage of salary cap marks for off-ball linebackers. Adjusting for the new cap figure for these thresholds is probably the right course for a Brooks deal.

LB Frankie Luvu, Washington Commanders

AGE AT SIGNING: 27 years old in 2024
TERMS OF CONTRACT: Three years, $31 million ($10.33M annual average, 4.05% of 2024 salary cap)

Of all the off-ball linebacker contracts atop the leader board. Almost all of them were by players 25 years or younger. Luvu is the next highest contract for an off-ball linebacker signed by a player 27 years old or older. Luvu had a career trajectory that more closely paralleled Brooks than Baun did before his 2024 breakout in Philadelphia. Luvu was productive player for two seasons in Carolina after starting his career with the Jets. Those two years in Carolina produced over 200 tackles and 12.5 sacks before landing this deal with the Commanders. Adjusting for current salary cap figures, this contract would check in at approximately $12.5 million per season in 2026 money — it’s a good salary, but too low for Brooks’ last two seasons.

Ballparking an offer to LB Jordyn Brooks

The Luvu numbers feel too low. The Warner numbers probably feel too high. The Baun contract? That feels like it’s justttttttttttt right. But it needs to be adjusted to the 2026 salary cap projection, which sits between $301.2M and $305.2M, per a report in recent days from Tom Pelissero. For the sake of this exercise and an aggressive projection, we’ll use the higher projection number of $305.2M.

Baun’s annual average salary as a percentage of the 2025 salary cap was 6.09%, which ranked fourth highest among NFL off-ball linebackers. Roquan Smith’s ranking in this measure was 8.90%. Tremaine Edmunds’ was 8.01% and Fred Warner’s was 7.52%. In pursuit of as many “wins” for Brooks as possible, I’ll use a percentage of cap mark that’s higher than Baun’s as well, in order to place Brooks in the top-4 of NFL off-ball linebackers.

So what is 6.10% of a $305,200,000 salary cap?

That number would be $18,617,200 for the annual average salary of a new deal. That mark would rank behind Warner’s $21 million and Roquan Smith’s $20 million but in front of Edmunds’ $18 million per season average with the Bears. It’s good enough to make Brooks a top-three paid linebacker in annual average salary.

The contracts signed by Warner, Baun, and Luvu for this exercise were all three-year contracts — giving that to Brooks would put him under contract with the team through the end of his age 31 season as he enters into free agency in 2030. Brooks is currently scheduled to make $8.375 million in 2026, which would give him a significant pay raise worthy of an All-Pro player in the prime of his career.

So, Jon-Eric Sullivan, what do you say? A three-year, $55.85 million contract extension doesn’t sound like a bad way to get your offseason started, no? A chance to lock in your best player for the foreseeable future, buy yourself some cap space in the process for a cap-conscious 2026 offseason, and lock in that building block long-term? Maybe Brooks and his camp would ask for a little more. Maybe they’d settle for a little less. Either way, this is where the conversation would seem to make sense starting. I’d be picking up the phone and making the call if I were Miami, too.

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