Dolphins' Depth Chart, Salary Cap After Shaq Barrett, Jordyn Brooks' Rumored Contract

The Miami Dolphins have beefed up their linebacking corps to open free agency.

ESPN's Adam Schefter confirmed Monday the team agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with Jordyn Brooks, and it followed up Tuesday by inking Shaq Barrett to a one-year, $9 million pact, per Schefter.

Their arrivals help to somewhat offset the departures of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, both of whom signed elsewhere.

Here's how the Dolphins defense is shaping up for the 2024 season:

Miami Depth Chart—Defense

• LDE: Zach Sieler, Isaiah Mack 
• NT: Raekwon Davis, Brandon Pili 
• RDE: Da'Shawn Hand, Daviyon Nixon 
• LOLB: Jaelan Phillips, Shaq Barrett, Cameron Goode, Justin Houston 
• LILB: David Long Jr., Anthony Walker Jr., Calvin Munson 
• RILB: Jordyn Brooks, Duke Riley, Channing Tindall 
• ROLB: Bradley Chubb, Melvin Ingram, Bruce Irvin 
• LCB: Eli Apple, Cam Smith 
• SS: DeShon Elliott, Elijah Campbell 
• FS: Jevon Holland 
• RCB: Jalen Ramsey, Ethan Bonner 
• NB: Kader Kohou, Nik Needham, Justin Bethel

Depth chart via Ourlads.com

There will almost certainly be some cost-cutting or contract restructuring to come. Over the Cap has the Dolphins at just $2.1 million under the salary cap without accounting for Brooks' or Barrett's deals.

The 26-year-old Brooks, who posted 111 tackles and 4.5 sacks over 16 starts last season, began his career with the Seahawks in 2020 after they selected him with the No. 27 overall choice in the NFL draft out of Texas A&M.

One year later, Brooks became a full-time starter and proceeded to rack up 182 tackles, including an NFL-high 109 solo stops and 10 tackles for a loss. He added 161 more tackles (103 solo) in 2022.

Unfortunately, Brooks suffered a torn ACL in Week 17 of the 2022 campaign. During the next offseason, the Seahawks declined their fifth-year option for 2024, which would have been worth $12,722,000.

Brooks made a great comeback for 2023, though, and was ready in time for the 2023 season. He missed only one game (a 30-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17) due to an ankle ailment.

Overall, Brooks launched an amazing return after a devastating injury, making him a coveted free agent.

In the case of Barrett, it has been the case of diminishing returns after he led the NFL in sacks (19.5) and finished fourth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2019. He has had just one double-digit sack season since then and combined for 7.5 across 2022 and 2023, with a torn Achilles limiting him to eight appearances two seasons ago.

That Achilles injury also raises questions over whether the 31-year-old can ever recapture something approaching his 2019 breakout.

Miami doesn't really need Barrett to be an elite edge-rusher, though, once Bradley Chubb (torn ACL) and Jaelan Phillips (torn Achilles) are healthy again.