The Pros And Cons of Pursuing Bradley Chubb

The Miami Dolphins could use some help with their pass rush

Isaiah J. Downing - USA Today Sports

The Miami Dolphins brought in some big-name players in the offseason, and they reportedly are looking to land another one before the NFL trading deadline.

The Dolphins were one of two teams, along with the New York Jets, mentioned by name in longtime NFL writer Peter King's weekly Monday morning column as being interested in making a deal for Denver Broncos edge defender Bradley Chubb.

Interested enough to part with a first-round pick.

"A well-plugged-in GM told me over the weekend the Jets and Dolphins are interested, and interested enough to consider dealing a first-rounder for Chubb. But to make that deal for a significant price, Miami or New York, or any team, would have to have a deal done with Chubb beyond this year."

That was the paragraph in King's column, which illustrates both why the Broncos would be willing to part with a proven pass rusher and why a team would be hesitant to pay a big price for him.

A first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft, Chubb is making $12.7 million in 2022 playing on the fifth-year option and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring.

That's why any team giving up a significant return would want to have Chubb signed beyond next season. Another franchise tag for Chubb in 2023 always is an option, but then that would potentially make Chubb a year-and-a-half rental instead of a half-year rental.

WHY CHUBB WOULD BE A GREAT ADDITION FOR THE DOLPHINS

The appeal with Chubb is obvious: The guy can rush the passer.

Chubb has 5.5 sacks in eight games for the Broncos this season, including two in the opener against the Seattle Seahawks and 2.5 in the Thursday night home loss against the Indianapolis Colts.

Before that, Chubb had 12 sacks in 16 games as a rookie in 2018 and 7.5 sacks in 14 games in 2020 when he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first — and only so far — time.

And the Dolphins right now clearly could use an elite pass rusher.

Through eight games, Miami has only 15 sacks, on pace for 32, a clear drop from the 47 they recorded last year.

To be sure, the absence all season of cornerback Byron Jones has hindered the team's ability to blitz as much as usual, but there's also not been anybody stepping up to provide consistent pressure on the passer.

Emmanuel Ogbah, who had nine sacks each of the past two seasons, has only two sacks so far in 2022 and he's coming back now from a back injury. The team leader in sacks is second-year linebacker Jaelan Phillips, but with only three.

Veteran Melvin Ingram, signed late in the offseason, was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September, but that was more for his two fumble recoveries than his sacks — like Ogbah, he's got only one sack on the season. Ingram also played a season-low 16 snaps against Detroit on Sunday.

Adding Chubb no doubt would bring an added element to the defense.

THE DOWN SIDE OF A POTENTIAL CHUBB TRADE

As stated before, there's a reason the Broncos are even entertaining offers for Chubb.

While it's clearly about his contract status, that contract status — and the accompanying upcoming negotiations — is made trickier by his injury history.

In reeling off his career sack stats, notice we left out the 2019 and 2021 seasons, and that's because Chubb played only 11 of a possible 33 games those two years. He missed the final 12 games of the 2019 after sustaining a torn ACL in his left knee and had surgery on his left ankle in 2021.

So there will be a risk factor involved for any team willing to include a lot of guaranteed money in his next contract.

Or maybe a team takes the short view, trades for him and tags him again next summer.

And maybe that team ends up being the Dolphins if they decide they're a stud pass rusher away from being able to compete with the Bills and Chiefs in the AFC.

To be sure, a first-round pick in a trade for a midseason rental would be an awfully steep price, so one would think if the Dolphins are willing to part with that No. 1 pick from the 49ers — which certainly looks like it could end up in the bottom third with San Francisco clearly looking like a playoff team — they would like to have a long-term deal in place.

If that materializes, it no doubt would be a bold move for the Dolphins. But they also have shown this year they're not afraid to be bold.