The Miami Dolphins added needed help in their pass rush in a big way at the trade deadline on Tuesday.
Miami landed one-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Bradley Chubb in a deal with the Denver Broncos ahead of the league’s 4 p.m. deadline, according to a league source.
The compensation for Denver, per source: the 2023 first-round pick that is tied to the San Francisco 49ers’ finish, a 2024 fourth-round pick and running back Chase Edmonds. The Dolphins also received a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Broncos.
After involving Edmonds in the trade with Denver, Miami then reportedly acquired San Francisco 49ers running back Jeff Wilson Jr., according to ESPN.
Chubb is bound for free agency after the season, but ESPN also reported Miami plans to work with Chubb on a long-term extension.
The Dolphins were looking to add to their pass rush as the unit up front has underwhelmed in pressuring opposing quarterbacks. They ultimately paid the asking price of a first-round pick for Chubb.
Miami previously held two first-round selections in the 2023 draft. It forfeited its own pick from the NFL’s penalty on the Dolphins tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and coach Sean Payton. The Dolphins held San Francisco’s pick from a trade back in the 2021 draft that the 49ers used to draft quarterback Trey Lance.
Chubb (6-foot-4, 275 pounds), 26, is a versatile edge rusher still in his prime in his fifth NFL season with 26 career sacks under his belt. His 5 1/2 sacks thus far in 2022 would be enough to lead the Dolphins.
He was a Pro Bowl selection in 2020 when he had 7 1/2 sacks and 42 tackles. As a rookie who was drafted at No. 5 in 2018, Chubb had his most prolific season, recording 60 tackles, 12 sacks and finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Chubb also has an injury history. Coming off that standout rookie campaign, a torn ACL in his left knee cost him all but four games in 2019. He rebounded well in 2020, but then a right ankle injury forced him to miss half the 2021 season.
Chubb can now be paired with fellow outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, a second-year standout out of the University of Miami, in leading the Miami pass rush. Phillips is the Dolphins’ sack leader with three. As a team, the Dolphins have just 15 sacks on the season.
Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, the team’s sack leader with nine each of the past two seasons, has just one sack through eight games, one of which he missed with a back injury. The Dolphins also have fellow outside linebackers in veteran Melvin Ingram, who was AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September but slowed down in October, and Andrew Van Ginkel, who had an appendix removal ahead of the season and has increased his defensive workload in recent weeks. The Dolphins also lost edge defender Trey Flowers for the season after he exited the Oct. 16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a foot injury.
Edmonds’ time in Miami comes to an abrupt end after eight games, with two starts. He had 120 rushing yards on 42 attempts (a 2.9 average) and 10 receptions for 96 yards after coming over from the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason.
Expected to lead the Dolphins backfield when the team signed him in free agency, he never picked up the wide-zone scheme Miami coach Mike McDaniel implemented, and Raheem Mostert moved ahead of him on the depth chart.
The Dolphins then quickly replaced Edmonds at running back with another trade, landing 49ers tailback Jeff Wilson Jr. for a 2023 fifth-round pick, according to multiple reports. Wilson, like Mostert, is reunited with McDaniel, who was offensive coordinator and run game coordinator in San Francisco before being named Dolphins head coach.
