Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey are playing opposite sides of the ball, but the Miami Dolphins are all in this season as the clock is running out on a championship window.
But did they manage their finances well in advance of a campaign that may make or ruin them? On June 12, Sports News writer Vinnie Iyer selected two Dolphins players to his NFL “all-overpaid” team. According to Iyer, these players are the most overpaid athletes in their respective positions.
First, linebacker Jordyn Brooks ($8.75 million annually) was signed as a crucial player for 2024, bringing much-needed depth to the defense under new coach Anthony Weaver.
As Jerome Baker moves to Seattle to join Tyrel Dodson, Iyer contended, “the one-time [Seattle] Seahawks first-round tackling machine has faded hard of late and is a lateral move.”
He’s not incorrect, given that Pro Football Focus reports that Brooks’ missed tackle percentage increased to 16.5% the previous season. His number of solo tackles fell from more than 100 in the previous two seasons to 62 in a comparable amount of games.
But Brooks is only 26 years old, so maybe he bounces back from a difficult season he had with the Seahawks.
The issue is that the former first rounder isn’t very good at anything else. Although he has been a disaster in coverage throughout his career and PFF has seldom given him a run defense score above 70.0, he can pressure the passer and track down ball carriers.
That category also collapsed in 2023, with run defense ratings falling to 49.3.
Although it’s not awful for a linebacker, Brooks allowed an average of 3.9 yards on run plays before making a tackle last season, according to PFF, but his stop percentage was only 6.7%. On rushing downs, a 17.1% missed tackle rate appeared to exacerbate that shortcoming.
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