Why the Brooks Trade Chatter Won't Stop

We didn't really expect a national NFL story about high-profile trade candidates to not include Jordyn Brooks, did we?

It's become pretty much a ritual this season, and so it was a few days when Greg Auman of FOX Sports listed his top five and had the Miami Dolphins linebacker at number 1.

And here's the thing: This won't stop. The second there's another one of those types of stories written by any national writer or analyst, count on Brooks being included.

And this will happen until one of the three outcomes materializes: Brooks signs a contract extension with the Dolphins, Brooks indeed does get traded, the 2026 trade deadline passes.

As for who could trade for Brooks, Auman mentioned the Dallas Cowboys, bringing back an idea that first surfaced early in training camp, but it could be any number of teams looking for an impact off-the-ball linebacker.

THE CLOUD OVER BROOKS

The idea of trading a player coming off an All-Pro season is pretty weird, but these are pretty weird times for the Dolphins.

It starts with where the organization is right now after a complete overhaul that saw head coach and GM get fired and a handful-plus of big-name player moved out because they didn't fit the vision of an organizational reboot.

But why would Brooks follow out the door players like Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bradley Chubb and others when he's either younger or more productive than those others (although Waddle was a special case)?

The only reason Brooks' name keeps coming up is his contract, which runs out after this season, which features no guaranteed salary, which features a big cap number and which hasn't been touched this offseason unlike De'Von Achane's extension or Aaron Brewer's restructure.

Brooks carries a $10.9 million cap number for 2026, and the Dolphins could knock off $8.4 million off it by trading him, which is something they'd logically only consider if they didn't want to sign him to a contract extension or re-sign him as a free agent next offseason.

Here's a fun fact: Brooks' current base salary of $7.8 million is more than three times higher than any other player on the roster, with fellow linebacker Tyrel Dodson second at $2.3 million, per OverTheCap.com.

That means a contract extension for Brooks, which would obviously include a signing bonus, almost assuredly would lower his cap number and that means the Dolphins' tight cap situation before June 1 wasn't the reason an extension wasn't done.

Because GM Jon-Eric Sullivan has talked about Brooks as a foundational piece — and why not given his productivity, work ethic and quiet leadership? — the assumption is the Dolphins want to keep him around for at least a couple more years.

The problem, as is often the case, is player and organization agreeing on contract numbers that work for both sides.

We can only imagine that's the reason no extension has been signed yet, and the truth is it might come at any time. And in the final analysis, we'd expect that to be the resolution here because the Dolphins can't be trading away all of their good players, and Brooks most definitely is that.

But until that time comes, because of Brooks' cap status and market value, the possibility of the Dolphins moving him in a trade can't be dismissed.

It's why you'll keep seeing his name mentioned.

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