Dolphins acquiring Pro Bowl pass rusher Bradley Chubb in trade with Broncos

The Dolphins have agreed to a trade for Denver Broncos Pro Bowl pass rusher Bradley Chubb pending a physical, the team announced, executing a blockbuster deal ahead of the NFL’s 4 p.m. deadline Tuesday.

The team will send Denver the 2023 first-round pick it acquired from the San Francisco 49ers, a 2024 fourth-round pick, as well as running back Chase Edmonds, whom the Dolphins signed to a two-year deal in March. Miami will receive a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Broncos.

ESPN reported the Dolphins are expected to work out a long-term deal with Chubb, who is in the final year of his rookie contract after being selected No. 5 overall in the 2018 Draft. The 26-year-old Chubb has 5.5 sacks this season and 26 in his career. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2020 after a 7.5-sack season.

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The trade, the Dolphins’ first in-season deal for a player since Nov. 3, 2020, signals a franchise that sees itself as a contender amid a 5-3 start to the season, headlined by the emergence of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

While the Dolphins’ revamped offense has taken off behind Tagovailoa, first-year head coach Mike McDaniel and speedy wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, a defense kept intact from 2021 has struggled at times to adjust to a slew of injuries, particularly in the secondary.

After ranking top-five in the NFL in sacks and pressure rate last season, the Dolphins rank in the bottom half of the league in sacks (15) and pressure rate through eight games. Second-year outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who leads the team with three sacks, has had a strong stretch recently, recording two sacks and seven quarterback hits in the last three games. But defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who signed a four-year, $65 million deal in March, has yet to replicate the impact of his previous two seasons when he led the Dolphins in sacks. Ogbah has just one sack and seven quarterback hits in seven games.

After a standout college career at North Carolina State that included unanimous All-America honors as a senior, Chubb, 6-4 and 275 pounds, has developed into one of the NFL’s best young pass rushers. In 49 games, all of which have been starts, Chubb has recorded 26 sacks, 170 combined tackles, six forced fumbles and five pass deflections. He is the cousin of Cleveland Browns Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb.

Injuries, though, have been a problem for Chubb. He has missed 24 of a possible 73 game in his career. A partial ACL tear in his left knee sidelined him for 12 games in the 2019 season and he played in seven games in 2021 after undergoing midseason ankle surgery.

However, with Chubb’s talent, he pairs with Phillips to give the Dolphins one of the better pass-rush duos for potentially years to come. Chubb ranks third in ESPN’s pass block win rate, defined as how often defenders can beat their blocks within 2.5 seconds. Phillips ranks tied for ninth.

Chubb’s arrival could also aid a secondary dealing with multiple season-ending injuries. In the past month, cornerback Nik Needham and safety Brandon Jones both sustained injuries that will sideline them for the rest of the year. Cornerback Byron Jones, who has yet to play this season after undergoing offseason leg surgery, will not be activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list this week.

With Chubb in the lineup, a defense that has for the past few years relied on blitzing quarterbacks at a high rate could have a curveball. According to TruMedia, the Dolphins rank seventh in blitz rate, sending extra rushers on 33.4 percent of opposing dropbacks. But they rank 21st with a 31.4 percent pressure rate.

Years after jettisoning veterans and stockpiling draft picks in a multi-season rebuild, the trade for Chubb marks the second high-profile deal general manager Chris Grier has pulled off for an incoming player in the last 10 months. The team in March acquired Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs, giving up first-, second- and fourth-round picks in the 2022 Draft, as well as fourth- and sixth-round picks in 2023.

The Dolphins now have no first-round picks in the upcoming draft. The team originally had two but sent one to Denver in the Chubb deal and the NFL in August docked the team its original 2023 first-rounder as punishment for tampering.

The trade for Chubb was the first of two deals the Dolphins made Tuesday. The team also traded for 49ers running back Jeff Wilson, who reunites with McDaniel, the former run game coordinator and offensive coordinator in San Francisco. The Dolphins are sending a 2023 fifth-round pick to the 49ers.

A former undrafted rookie who signed with the 49ers in 2018, Wilson, 6-feet and 213 pounds, has rushed for 468 yards and two touchdowns this season. However, he had just 11 carries after San Francisco traded for All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey two weeks ago. In five seasons, Wilson has rushed for 1,733 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. He has also caught 45 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. In 2020, Wilson led the 49ers in rushing with 600 yards, seven touchdowns and a 4.8-yard average.

Edmonds had seen a decrease in playing time as he struggled with drops and Raheem Mostert, another former 49er running back, emerged as the team’s top back in recent weeks. Mostert leads the team with 452 rushing yards.