The Miami Dolphins might be looking at a trade before Week 1. NFL analysts are increasingly urging the team to move on from linebacker Tyrel Dodson, and star linebacker Jordyn Brooks has already been part of several trade discussions this offseason.
Dodson is set to make around $8 million this year, which is real starter money for a player who has been inconsistent since arriving in Miami. According to a prominent NFL analyst, the Dolphins should look to phase Dodson out of their starting linebacker rotation and potentially trade him before the regular season begins.
The context matters. Miami has been fielding a heavier linebacker rotation this preseason and clearly wants to develop younger, cheaper options. Dodson’s contract makes him a candidate to be moved for a mid-round draft pick, allowing the Dolphins to reallocate cap space to other positions of need.
Jordyn Brooks is the more interesting subplot here. Brooks is a two-time Pro Bowl talent who was Miami’s biggest defensive free agent addition last year. Now his name is showing up in trade conversations across the league, which suggests either the Dolphins aren’t happy with something behind the scenes or they see an opportunity to cash in an asset while his value is high.
For an AFC East team competing against elite offenses like Buffalo and New York, subtracting from your linebacker room seems counterintuitive. But Miami’s cap situation has become tight, and the front office is clearly evaluating whether the money tied up at linebacker could be better spent elsewhere.
The Dolphins had a disappointing 2025 season and enter 2026 needing to show progress. Head coach Mike McDaniel is under real pressure to fix the run defense and stop the physical AFC teams that have historically overwhelmed Miami in the playoffs. Trading defensive contributors mid-camp is a strange way to try to fix those problems.
The 8 million dollars per year for Dodson looks bad when you compare his production to other linebackers making similar money. He hasn’t been a difference-maker in coverage. His tackling has been solid but not spectacular. And for a Miami defense that has speed as its identity, Dodson can sometimes look a step slow against the modern NFL passing game.
The trade market for linebackers is always a little strange. Teams don’t tend to trade for linebackers as often as they trade for offensive tackles or corners. But contending teams looking for veteran depth often make small moves at the position, especially closer to the trade deadline.
If Miami waits until the deadline, they lose leverage. A Dodson trade before Week 1 gets them a decent draft pick. A Dodson trade at the deadline, after he might have already lost his starting job, brings back much less.
The Brooks situation is even more sensitive. Trading Brooks means admitting that a marquee free agent signing didn’t work out. It’s an ownership decision as much as a football decision. Chris Grier and the Dolphins front office would be signaling a major strategic pivot if they moved Brooks.
For fantasy football players and dynasty leaguers, none of this changes much. But for anyone tracking the AFC East, this is a real storyline. If Miami blows up part of the defense before the season starts, they’re basically waving the white flag on 2026 and setting up for a longer rebuild.
McDaniel’s staff has some hard decisions to make in the next three weeks. Dodson and Brooks are both wearing Dolphins uniforms right now. Whether they’re both still wearing them on September 7 is an open question.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
