Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Miami Dolphins have secured linebacker Jordyn Brooks to a three-year extension.
- Four current roster members stand out as essential long-term pieces despite the team's challenging 2026 outlook.
- The decision on one talented running back highlights the delicate balance between holding onto star power and maximizing assets during a rebuild.
The Miami Dolphins will almost certainly be really bad in 2026, but the team made a move to solidify its future this week, agreeing to a three-year extension with linebacker Jordyn Brooks. That's one building block for the Dolphins, but are there other players on this current roster who the team should make sure it keeps around going forward.
Not counting the rookies who haven't seen the field yet to be judged, these four players are who the Miami Dolphins should be building around long-term.
QB Malik Willis
Maybe this is cheating a bit, considering that like the rookies who I deemed ineligible for this list of players, quarterback Malik Willis is joining the Dolphins for the first time this season. But the former Liberty star showed enough with the Green Bay Packers last season to suggest there's star upside here. Considering how hard it is to find a good quarterback, Miami should at least be thinking long-term with Willis.
Could he fail to work out? Sure. Accuracy concerns destroyed his draft stock and were proven to be true in his first NFL home with the Titans before he seemed to discover a different gear in Green Bay, but he was never a full-time starter for the Packers, so it's hard to be too sure about how good Willis can be.
One thing I'd preach to this Miami coaching staff: Don't just blame Willis for the team being awful in 2026. This is a rough roster and his receiving options are severely limited, to the point where I'd comfortably call this the worst receiving room in the NFL. If Willis is bad because he's bad, that's one thing. If he struggles because he has no help, don't just panic-draft a quarterback next spring unless you're positive that Willis is the problem, because that might just compound the issues and force the rebuild to take even longer.
LT Patrick Paul
The argument for keeping Patrick Paul long-term is fairly simple. He's a young offensive tackle who played fairly well in 2025 and who still has room to get even better. Those kinds of players don't grow on trees.
Sure, PFF grading Paul 43rd of 84 qualifying tackles isn't great, but his 66.2 overall grade is still the highest of any tackle on this Miami roster. He also consistently showed that he could handle the pressure of pass rushes, something he struggled with as a rookie.
That's another thing that gives Paul upside: how much he improved in 2025. Seeing a player take a sizable leap in his second year is a great sign, and it should give the Dolphins confidence in him for 2026 and beyond.
C Aaron Brewer
Aaron Brewer is a little on the older side, but that rightly didn't stop the Dolphins from extending him back in June, handing him a three-year, $52 million deal. It was the right move for a player who has been one of the NFL's best centers.
Last season, Brewer ranked second among centers in PFF grade, his second season in a row to rank in the top 10 at his position. He flies under the radar a lot of the time, but Brewer is a cornerstone piece for an offensive line.
And that might be one of the major strengths of this Dolphins team, which would accelerate the rebuild: the offensive line is already kind of built up. You have an elite center. You have an up-and-coming left tackle. You have a couple of young guys with upside. It's not perfect, but it's pretty solid considering the overall shape of this roster.
CB JuJu Brents
This choice might sound like it's coming out of left field. A third-year corner who you claimed off waivers last August and who has played in seven games for your team is someone you need to build around?
Well, yes. Brents posted a career-best in basically every category in his brief time with the Dolphins, from allowing his fewest yards per target to the lowest quarterback rating when targeted of his career.
What's more, PFF is super high on him. While he didn't qualify for the overall leaderboard, his 74.5 grade last season is the best of any defensive back on this roster, and just two players on this defense had a higher grade at all last season. There's something really intriguing here, and the Dolphins should lock him in to a team-friendly long-term deal while they have the chance.
Addressing the De'Von Achane situation
I went back and forth between including De'Von Achane as someone that the Dolphins should hold on to or someone who the team should move if the right offer comes in. You can probably guess based on how this article has gone, how this section is titled and how the article title itself uses the number "four" in it that I ultimately chose the latter.
It's not because I don't think Achane is a great talent. He is, and that's exactly why a rebuilding team shouldn't hold on to him. He's a game-changing running back stuck on a team with zero playoff hopes, and while the Dolphins extended him back in May, that should definitely not stop the team from exploring a move.
Whether you do that now or later is debatable. But with the short shelf life of running backs, there's no real way to be sure Achane will still be this level of talent by the time Miami is actually good, so getting future assets for him seems like a smart move. You can't just hang on to a player simply because he's good.
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