Dolphins Wednesday Notebook: Brewer Is Award Finalist, More Coaching News

It was a busy day for the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday, including some coaching staff additions under new head coach Jeff Hafley.

However, a few other notes might have slipped under the radar on a day that also included some excellent Senior Bowl prospect performances. Don’t fret, though, we’ve got you covered with three additional headlines you might have missed.

Those headlines start with a nice honor for one of the team’s best players.

Aaron Brewer is a Finalist for a Major Award

Center Aaron Brewer had an incredible season in 2025, and he was rewarded with a second-team All-Pro nomination a few weeks ago.

However, he got some more national recognition on Wednesday. Brewer was named as one of six finalists for the NFL’s Protector of the Year award, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

This is the first year for the award, which is supposed to honor the league’s best offensive lineman. Brewer made the cut along with Denver Broncos tackle Garrett Bolles, Denver Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz, Detroit Lions tackle Penei Sewell, Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney, and Kansas City Chiefs center Creed Humphrey.

It feels pretty unlikely that Brewer actually will win the award. He’s probably got the least amount of name recognition among the finalists, but it’s still cool to see him get put on the same pedestal as those names.

As for the future, Brewer is heading into the final year of his original Dolphins contract and could be seeking an extension this summer. If he does want a new deal, there’s no doubt he’ll use this to raise the price.

Another Former Dolphins Assistant to New York?

The New York Jets have had an incredibly strange offseason. The team didn’t decide to make some staffing changes until this week, despite not playing a game since the end of the regular season.

One of those changes was moving on from offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand. To replace him, the Jets interviewed former Dolphins quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell.

Bevell is one of five coaches to interview for the Jets' offensive coordinator role, which was technically open before this week. New York stripped Engstrand of his play-calling duties before officially firing him, so this search has been in motion for a bit now.

Bevell joined the Dolphins in 2022 when Mike McDaniel was hired as the head coach. Bevell’s big contribution was working with Tua Tagovailoa to help revive his career, and those two always seemed to have a good relationship.

If Bevell gets the job, it would give the Jets two former Dolphins assistants at their coordinator spots. The team already has hired Brian Duker as its defensive coordinator.

Dolphins Hire ‘The Ball King’

Miami hired multiple assistant coaches in recent days, but none of them seem to have as good a nickname as Wendel Davis.

Davis is a defensive quality control coach, and he’s the latest Packers coach to follow Hafley to South Florida. Nicknamed “The Ball King” by Hafley and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Davis’ job was to make sure the team’s defenders were trying to create fumbles.

Davis had a whole points system that rewarded players for getting interceptions and forcing fumbles. The team even had a siren in the meeting room that blared when they created a turnover.

While all of that is neat, it’s important to note that the Packers had only 14 takeaways in 2025, tied for the 26th most in the league.

There’s a good chance that Davis will have the same kind of role with the Dolphins. Miami had just 20 turnovers last season, but forced 11 fumbles and recovered nine of them, which was good for the fifth most in the league.

It’s safe to say that "The Ball King" likely will keep the same emphasis as the last staff had on trying to punch the ball out. The only question is whether it will work better in Miami than it did in Green Bay.

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