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Dolphins center Aaron Brewer has been nominated for an award
Despite the disappointing 7-10 season, the Miami Dolphins had a couple of players who really delivered superstar performances in the 2025 season. Some Dolphins fans may lament that had Miami fared better as a team, their stars’ individual performances would have been recognized on a national scale.
Ultimately, perhaps that ends up helping the Dolphins as those players will likely not seek as much money had they become known leaguewide. One of those players who seemingly went under the radar is Pro Bowl running back De’Von Achane. On Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 player projection for 2026, Achane was the lone Miami player to make the list at No. 78. He came in 72 spots behind Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, despite finishing with more rushing yards and more yards per attempt.
The Dolphins had two All-Pro selections in 2026, but neither of them made the Sports Illustrated list. However, one of them received more important news.
Miami Dolphins Center Nominated for Award
Starting with the 2025 season, the NFL introduced the Protector of the Year award. The league announced that the award will be given out to the league’s best offensive lineman of the season. The NFL stated, “The honor will be decided upon by a panel that includes a number of former standout NFL linemen.”
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler revealed that Dolphins center Aaron Brewer is one of the six nominees for the inaugural award. The other finalists include Broncos tackle Garett Bolles, Chiefs center Creed Humphrey, Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz, Bears guard Joe Thuney, and Lions tackle Penei Sewell.
Despite Brewer not being named to the Pro Bowl roster this season, he has gotten some much deserved recognition for his performance this season. He has been in constant competition with Chiefs center Creed Humphrey throughout the offseason as Humphrey obtained first-team All-Pro honors and Brewer was relegated to second-team. Hopefully for Brewer, the former linemen will go a different route than the AP voters.
ESPN’s Seth Walder ranked the Top 100 Most Valuable Players of the 2025 season, where he also had Humphrey ahead of Brewer. Regarding that decision, Walder wrote, “Brewer had a great season, and his blocking helped the running game be the best part of the Dolphins’ season. He was good to the point that he almost beat out Creed Humphrey for first-team All-Pro honors at center (Brewer ended up on the second team). But the feedback I got from a few folks in the league wasn’t quite as strong — they felt he had a good season but wasn’t on Humphrey’s level.”
Dolphins Contract Decisions
Aaron Brewer has only one year remaining on his three-year $21 million contract he signed with the Dolphins prior to the 2024 season. Miami’s offensive scheme helped transform Brewer into one of the most dominant linemen in football, and now they will have to pay him or risk losing him to free agency next season.
Fortunately for Brewer, the Dolphins hired pass-game coordinator Bobby Slowik as their new offensive coordinator. That move should give Miami some continuity offensively, as they run the scheme they ran under Mike McDaniel as head coach. Had the Dolphins gotten away from their current zone rushing scheme, Brewer would have likely been a trade candidate this offseason.
Jose Esquer Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer
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