Barely 90 minutes before the trade deadline, the Broncos have decided to accept a Bradley Chubb trade offer. They are sending the fifth-year pass rusher to the Dolphins, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Denver will receive the 2023 first-round pick Miami obtained from San Francisco, along with a 2024 fourth-rounder and running back Chase Edmonds. The Dolphins will receive Chubb and a 2025 fifth, Schefter tweets. The Broncos needed to make a decision: accept an offer including a first-round pick or attempt to extend Chubb in 2023. Second-year GM George Paton took the first-rounder-fronted package. The teams have announced the deal.
This marks the second time in two years the Broncos have traded a cornerstone edge rusher at the deadline. Chubb, 26, will join 2021 trade chip Von Miller in the AFC East. Miami has made some moves to fortify its pass rush this year, re-signing Emmanuel Ogbah and adding Melvin Ingram and Trey Flowers in free agency. Despite these moves, the Dolphins have tallied only 15 sacks this season. No player has more than three. Chubb will head to Miami after registering 5.5 sacks in his final Broncos season.
Denver’s latest seller trade wraps a swiftly developing saga. At this point last week, Chubb was expected to bring in a Miller-like haul (second- and third-round picks). But the Broncos discussed Chubb with more than 10 teams; a first-rounder was reported to be on the table since Sunday morning. The Jets and Dolphins were linked as being willing to send the Broncos a first-rounder, but while New York was believed to have backed off, Miami will pay up for the contract-year pass rusher. It is unclear if another team offered a first, but it is unsurprising the Broncos parted with Chubb for such compensation.
The Dolphins are now expected to work out a long-term deal with Chubb, Schefter tweets. Such a contract will cost north of $20MM per year. But the Dolphins are in a better position to pay Chubb his market value compared to the Broncos, who now have an expensive quarterback on their payroll.
Ogbah is signed to a $16.35MM-per-year deal, while first-rounder Jaelan Phillips (team-high three sacks) is attached to a rookie contract through 2024. The Dolphins ponied up record-setting receiver dough for Tyreek Hill, and they are set to pay Chubb as well. These accords will complement Tua Tagovailoa‘s rookie contract. With Tua not an open-and-shut 2023 extension candidate like Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert yet, the Dolphins can slow-play it with the 2020 No. 5 overall pick. Tagovailoa can be kept on his rookie deal through 2024, via the fifth-year option.
Sitting in a tie for second place in the AFC East with the Jets, the Dolphins (5-3) will be armed with a former Pro Bowl pass rusher. The Broncos chose Chubb fifth overall in 2018, and while the Nos. 6 and 7 picks from that draft became top-tier players (Quenton Nelson, Josh Allen), the North Carolina State-produced pass rusher still developed into an upper-echelon edge defender in Denver. Chubb registered 12 sacks as a rookie and bounced back from a 2019 ACL tear with a 2020 Pro Bowl berth. Chubb underwent two ankle surgeries in 2021, leading to a zero-sack season, but has rebounded again to help the Broncos form a top-five defense despite Vic Fangio‘s exit.
The pre-deadline deal closes the Broncos’ book on a decent what-if chapter in their modern history. The team’s John Elway-led regime drafted Chubb to pair with Miller, but after 2018, the two rarely ended up playing together. Chubb went down early in 2019; Miller missed all of the 2020 season. Chubb was lost early in the 2021 campaign; by the time he returned, the Broncos had traded Miller to the Rams. Denver has retooled on the edge in 2022, and each of its current cogs are Paton-era investments.
Denver signed Randy Gregory to a five-year, $70MM deal, moved Baron Browning from inside linebacker to the edge and drafted Nik Bonitto in Round 2 this year. All three have shown flashes, but both Gregory and Browning are out with injuries presently. While Tuesday’s trade depletes Denver’s 2022 edge corps, the team is 3-5 and pounced on a rare opportunity to land a first-round pick for a somewhat injury-prone player.
After losing its first- and second-round 2023 picks in the Russell Wilson trade, Denver has replenished its draft cupboard to some degree. The Dolphins have also been active with first-round selections under GM Chris Grier. They collected this 2023 draft choice from the 49ers in 2021’s Trey Lance deal, moved up to draft Jaylen Waddle that year and sent the Chiefs a 2022 first-rounder for Hill. While the Chubb move gives the Broncos a first-round pick next year, the Dolphins are now without one. The NFL stripped Miami of its original 2023 first-round pick, in the Tom Brady–Sean Payton tampering scandal, and the last of the selections obtained for Lance is now sacrificed for Chubb. The Dolphins are betting big Hill and Chubb can lead them to their first playoff win in 22 years.
Edmonds signed a two-year, $12.1MM deal this offseason but has seen ex-Mike McDaniel 49ers charge Raheem Mostert overtake him in Miami’s backfield. This season, Edmonds has 216 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. He has not surpassed 10 carries in a game since Week 1. Edmonds, 26, showed more while playing alongside Kenyan Drake and James Conner, respectively, in Arizona. A fourth-round pick out of Fordham, Edmonds topped 800 scrimmage yards in 2020 and ’21. He averaged 5.1 yards per carry last season, but the Cardinals turned to Conner as their primary back and re-signed him this offseason.
The fifth-year back is tied to a $2MM 2022 base salary and a nonguaranteed $5.7MM 2023 salary. The Broncos could look to pair Edmonds with Javonte Williams next year, with current backfield cogs Melvin Gordon and Latavius Murray unlikely to be with the team in 2023. For now, Edmonds will join the veterans who have been sharing the backfield since Williams’ ACL tear.
Great,
Another dirty player on the dolphins. Guess it fits the mentality. AFC QBs, guard your family jewels.
Great trade for the Broncos – as Flubb was too injury-prone to sign to a big contract and thus would simply have left in free agency anyway.
The dolphins don’t own their first round pick in ‘23 for the tampering violations. Lose that last sentence in the article
dolphins going all in
Excellent work by the Broncos. Sell high on a pending free agent who’s had a hard time staying healthy and you didn’t want to pay big money anyway. Get back into the first round.
As for Miami, what a risky all-in team this is. If all their key pieces can stay healthy and clicking, they’re a very dangerous team, but they still have a dicey line even when Armstead is able to take the field, their expensive corner room has disappointed, and now they’re betting a first rounder on a rental of Chubb? You can see how it might pay off big, but it’s quite a dice roll.
Miami does NOT own their own 2023 1st Rounder anymore due to the tampering violations…
Soo, now, I don’t think they own a 1st Rounder anymore after getting rid of the 49ers 1st Rounder..
Good trade considering that they weren’t going to keep him. Denver gets an okay backup running back and a couple of picks, and clears a path for Browning to start.
That said, I’m not sold on Gregory yet as a replacement. Denver will likely be picking another edge rusher in the next two years to replace him.
Well, according to PFF grades Gregory is ranked #12, Bonitto #28, and Browning #40 amongst edge rushers this season.
Chubb is ranked #71, so it would seem that Denver made out like bandits today.
Gregory only played a handful of games, so I’m not sure how those ratings can hold up. Browning is an interior linebacker that Denver moved to the edge. He may be better next year. He has looked very good on the field so far by the eyeball test, especially for someone new to the position. In any case, Denver is certainly leaning on him now as a starter, or they would not have made this trade.
My concern with Gregory is his age and availability concerns. He is not a franchise player at age 29. No matter how good he is when he returns, he will not remain at his peak effectiveness for the duration of his five year contract.
I agree, Gregory will likely decline over the life of his contract, which is easier to handle when he’s only making $14 million per season, as opposed to the $20+ million Chubb is likely getting this off-season. Not to mention, Chubb has been just as injury prone as Gregory (probably even more so). I look at it this way: if you combine the 2 trades the Broncos made today, they sent away a very talented, injury prone edge rusher (a position of depth for Denver) that wouldn’t have been on the team next year and got back a 2023 1st rounder, plus 2 potential contributing depth/role players that only cost a combined $10 mil next season. Add the salary of whoever they draft with the 1st rounder and you have filled 3 roster spots for much less than Chubb alone will cost next season.
Yeah, Gregory might be Paton’s biggest folly (if you ignore the whole Hackett/Wilson doomsday cloud).
I wouldn’t be surprised if Browning takes Gregory’s spot. Another Paton draft that’s panning out really well.
If Paton can eek out a solid year from Gregory with high numbers, trade him for another pick too just like Chubb. When you can draft well, you can trade quickly.
FWIW, Jacob Martin is ranked #61 as well.
I liked the Martin deal as a contingency, because it does show that Paton knows that his edge group is not steady yet. Martin has not been a true starter for most of his career, but has been effective as a rotational weapon.
Right now, Denver has a group of rotational pass rushers with no true starter that is healthy, but both Bonitto and Browning are young. One of them is going to have to assume that role. I know that PFF is higher on Bonitto, but I have seen much more from Browning than him in the games that I’ve watched. Either way, one of them will have to step in. Martin will help fill that gap for not much compensation.
Chubb’s main advantage over Gregory was his age. I didn’t necessarily like the Gregory deal, obviously, but if Chubb didn’t have a big year this year he was not likely to be re-signed. The Broncos got a good return for him, and in that regard, it was a good trade for the situation. I would have been much more comfortable betting on Chubb with an extension over Gregory, but given the scenario right now, this was the best move for Denver.
Huge win for the dolphins.
1st, 4th and Chase for Chubb and a 5th
Then giving up the 5th for Jeff Wilson
So in all a 1st and a 4th to get a great defender and upgrade at RB
No 2023 1st rounder for a player who will likely be injured half the season. Denver gets a huge win!
It’s a SB trade. If the Dolphins can go deep into the playoffs it’s revenue. Other than that, yeah Denver did well.
Bye bye Melvin Gordon. Try not to fumble your belongings as you carry them to your car.
Thank you for that laugh! I was honestly hoping to hear that Denver traded Gordon for like a 7th rounder or anything at all. Now I’m worried that he’ll still be involved. Maybe once Boone is healthy Denver will just release Gordon. I would much prefer to watch a committee of Murray, Boone, and Edmonds over any committee that includes Gordon!
Many people were saying that they wouldn’t give a 1st pick for Chubb. My thoughts were…then it’s not going to happen. For Denver to make any significant movement out of their ditch they need a 1st (and then maybe some change) for Chubb, and people can forget them trading solid receiver talent. Then we could throw Paton under the bus with Hackett and Wilson.
I am kind of surprised Albert O didn’t go anywhere. I expected him to move first.
A report earlier said that there was zero trade interest in Albert O, probably for the same reasons he’s been a healthy inactive for Denver lately. Dude can’t block to save his life and isn’t a very good route runner either.
Hehehe, well I guess that explains that one.