Fins get LB Chubb, RB Wilson in separate deals

The Denver Broncos traded outside linebacker Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday for a package that includes the 2023 first-round pick that Miami acquired from the San Francisco 49ers last year.

The Dolphins also sent running back Chase Edmonds and a 2024 fourth-round pick to Denver for a 2025 fifth-round selection along with Chubb. The Dolphins stated that the trade is subject to Chubb and Edmonds passing physical examinations.

Miami then replaced Edmonds by acquiring running back Jeff Wilson for a 2023 fifth-round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in a separate deal. The deal reunites Wilson and Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins’ coach. He also acquired running back Raheem Moret ,, his former backfield mate in San Francisco. Wilson has rushed for 468 yards and two touchdowns this season.

The Broncos addressed their pass rush following the deal with Chubb by acquiring defensive line Jacob Martin , who was drafted from the New York Jets , in exchange for a physical. Denver sent a 2024 fourth-round pick to the Jets for a 2024 fifth-round selection along with Martin. Martin has 1.5 sacks this season for the Jets, his first since signing as a free agent.

The Dolphins have pressured opposing quarterbacks on 22% of their dropbacks this season, the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Miami has 15 sacks in eight games, ranked 21st in the NFL.

Chubb has 5.5 sacks, tied for the team lead, and 26 in his career in 49 games with the Broncos.

Chubb will be an unrestricted, free agent following this season. Sources told Schefter that the Dolphins will likely reach a long-term agreement with Chubb.

The trade means that the Dolphins won’t have a first round draft pick next year. They forfeited their selection for tampering Tom Brady , and Sean Payton prior to this season. The Dolphins signed Edmonds this year in free agency. He has rushed for 120 yards and has scored three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) in his first season in Miami. He will join a Broncos backfield that includes Melvin Gordon III and Latavius Murray after starter Javonte Williams suffered a season-ending knee injury this season.

The Dolphins entered the 2022 season hoping for their offense to drastically improve and for their defense to carry over its success from the 2021 season, when they led the league in defensive expected points added from Week 8 to Week 18.

While Miami ranks seventh in yards per game through eight games, its defense has sputtered, ranking 23rd in yards allowed per game and 27th in defensive EPA. Chubb is a boon for a pass rush that blitzes at a sixth-highest pace in the league, but has the sixth-lowest percentage of sacks. The Dolphins rank 27th in pressures with 15 and 69, respectively.

Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, the Dolphins’ 2021 first-round pick, rank 12th and ninth in pressures created, respectively.

With Chubb’s arrival, the Dolphins turned their 2021 trade with the San Francisco 49ers for the No. 3 overall pick into essentially Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill and now Chubb.

The Broncos weren’t going to trade Chubb unless they got the return big enough to ship their 2018 first-round pick, who is having his best all-around season with the team, elsewhere. Chubb stated last week that he wanted to stay in Denver but that it was out of his control.

“It is nice to have that come up. … It’s great to be in a place where interest comes in. “At the end, I let all that stuff go to the people who deal with it. I just go out there and do what I can. ”

It is the second consecutive season Broncos general manager George Paton has dealt the team’s best pass rusher just before the deadline. Last year, he dealt Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams.

Paton has said this past week the Broncos were “not in the mode where we want to get rid of our best players,” but he has also said he would like to recover draft picks in the rounds where the Broncos no longer had picks after the deal to acquire Russell Wilson. This deal gives the Broncos another first-round pick next April.

Paton said Tuesday that preliminary negotiations had been held with Chubb’s representatives, but that trade talks “really heated up” this morning. ”

“We’re going to miss him, I’m going to miss him,” Paton said. “… “… It’s not secret that we need picks. ”

Paton said he would not have made the trade “without a first-round pick (included), that was obviously a key piece. ”

Chubb is on track for his first double-digit-sack season since he had 12 his rookie year. He missed all but four games in 2019 with a torn ACL and missed 10 games last season with bone spurs in both ankles.

ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques and Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.