Jordyn Brooks Has Me Excited for the 2026 Miami Dolphins
It has been over 25 years since the Miami Dolphins won a playoff game. To put that in perspective, I was just 7 years old when Jay Fielder bested Peyton Manning, thanks in large part to Lamar Smith’s 209 yards and 2 touchdowns. Just a boy with his whole life ahead of him, optimistic that he would see his favorite team one day hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Now I’m 33 years old and wake up with back pain; life comes at you fast. Though the wait for another playoff win has felt extremely slow. In the time between then and now, the Dolphins have had 7 different head coaches, ranging in prestige from Nick Saban to Cam Cameron. Jeff Hafley is the latest coach to take over as head man, and he’s already begun to instill a sense of change in the organization.
This week, Miami extended standout linebacker Jordyn Brooks. He gets a three-year extension worth $51.3 million. This comes after center Aaron Brewer signed a 3 year $52.5 million contract and De’Von Achane was given a 4 year $64 million deal this offseason. Retaining homegrown talent is extremely important in building a winning culture. It provides proof to players that their effort and dedication will be rewarded. To put it plainly, it helps with the vibes.
Good vibes were severely lacking under Mike McDaniel the past few seasons. His team was built by flashy additions such as Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey rather than the aforementioned homegrown talent. This puts players on unequal footing and leads to some players not taking their roles as seriously as others.
This came to a head last season after a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers when then-quarterback Tua Tagovailoa laid out his frustrations with players arriving late to meetings.
“I think it starts with the leadership in helping articulate that for the guys, and then what we’re expecting out of the guys,” Tagovailoa said. “We’re expecting this. Are we getting that? Are we not getting that? We have guys showing up to player-only meetings late. Guys not showing up to player-only meetings. There is a lot that goes into that. Do we have to make that mandatory? Do we not have to make that mandatory? So it’s a lot of things of that nature that we got to get cleaned up. It starts with the little things like that.”
The lackadaisical approach was seen on the field; it always felt like when the lights were brightest, the Dolphins were unable to rise to meet the moment. When expectations were high, the Dolphins disappeared; fortunately for them, there are really no expectations coming into 2026. Many outlets such as Yahoo! Sports have Miami ranked as the worst team in the league ahead of the regular season.
Brooks tackled that perception head-on in an interview he did with Tyler Dunne of Go Long. The entire piece is well worth the read, but Brooks’ comments about the expectations for Miami this season really stood out to me.
“A lot of people on the outside are going to look at our team and be like, ‘Yeah, 0-17,’” Brooks says. “But me? When you’re in it, it’s different. You never have that mindset. I understand why people would say the things they say. ‘How many stars do they have? Proven guys?’ We ain’t got a lot of them. But we tried that, and it didn’t work. To me, this is exactly what we need. Whatever the vision is, I’m all-in. The best teams win. Not the best players.”
That kind of mindset is exactly what you need from players who you are investing in. Brooks is now one of the undisputed leaders in the locker room, and that kind of mindset can lead to Miami surprising some people this season.
You can follow me on YouTube @WickedGoodEverything and X @TheFakeBMarr