In a wild NFL trade deadline, the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos just executed a blockbuster.
Denver is sending star pass rusher Bradley Chubb — the arguable best player on pro football’s best defense — to the Dolphins for, mainly, a 2023 first-round pick. It’s Miami’s latest big move at potential contention in the AFC as they try to chase down the Bills and Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Broncos are trying to salvage some assets to ideally support Russell Wilson after their trade for him gutted much of their operations.
Let’s take a look at all the essential details of this Chubb trade between the Dolphins and Broncos.
The details
Broncos get: 2023 first-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick, RB Chase Edmonds
Dolphins get: OLB Bradley Chubb, 2025 fifth-round pick
Trade terms, source tells ESPN:
MIA trades:
⁃2023 1st (SF pick)
⁃2024 4th
⁃RB Chase EdmondsDEN trades:
⁃OLB Bradley Chubb
⁃2025 5th— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 1, 2022
Miami Dolphins
It’s hard not to love this deal at face value for the Dolphins. With a healthy Tua Tagovailoa slinging the ball around to Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki, Miami might be a bona fide contender in a top-heavy AFC. And if they’re going to upend the kings of the conference in the Bills (who they have already beaten this season, mind you), the Dolphins will need all the defensive horses (pun absolutely intended) they can get.
On an efficiency level, Miami is a paltry 25th overall in Football Outsiders’ DVOA. Their pass defense is even worse (28th in DVOA, 32nd in yardage). In fact, only the Chiefs, Raiders, and Lions have allowed opposing passers to dice them up more than the Dolphins, who allowed the Jets (who play with 10 players on offense) to put up 40 without a passing touchdown.
In every which way, Chubb is the injection the Dolphins need to press for an AFC title or better. While he’s never been a game-wrecker like a prime Khalil Mack or Nick Bosa, Chubb has quietly had one of the more dominant runs in his Denver career. After missing much of the 2021 season due to injury, he’s rebounded with a solid 5.5 sacks and eight QB hits this year for what is (was?) one of the NFL’s better defenses.
In Miami, Chubb can take those numbers and pair well with Miami’s 2021 first-rounder Jaelan Phillips, who’s enjoying a breakout year of his own. (Not to mention that Chubb is one of the league’s premier run defenders/edge-setters.) It’ll also allow the Dolphins to make Melvin Ingram and Emmanuel Ogbah comfortably slot in as situational pass rushers without worrying about overextending them more than they’re capable of.
A first-rounder is a bit pricey for a half-year rental of a pending UFA in Chubb. But the Dolphins had a surplus of premium picks after a few offseasons of wheeling and dealing, and I don’t mind them finally cashing their chips at the right time. Chubb is a complete edge defender and exactly what the doctor ordered in Miami. If the Dolphins can convince him to stick around long-term, South Beach might even have a promising contending nucleus for the next few years.
Grade: A
Denver Broncos
Broncos GM George Paton isn’t stupid. He knows that even after Russell Wilson’s heroic efforts against the Jaguars in London, Denver is going to need a lot of picks and future capital to be sustainable in the coming years. After all, the deal for Wilson gutted the Broncos’ overall resources, and there wasn’t much to work with.
Dealing Chubb away will hurt in the short run — the Broncos had football’s arguable best defense in most relevant metrics and was the unit buoying them amidst Wilson’s first-half struggles. In the long run, if they’re dealing him now, the Broncos probably had zero inklings to pay Chubb like a premium edge player in the spring and salvaged what they could instead. A first and a mid-rounder are both potential foundational pieces for Denver’s next (yes, next) championship window. (That, or that fourth-rounder becomes a trade chip in the coming years.)
I don’t know that I see the path to the Broncos’ relevance if Wilson never rebounds — that contract is such a killer — but at least they have some bricks to lay down. Before, it was all sand and mealy gravel.
Grade: A
