ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos are trading star-crossed pass rusher Bradley Chubb to Miami for a package that includes the Dolphins first-round draft pick next year.
The Broncos (3-5) also get running back Chase Edmonds and a 2024 fourth-rounder from the Dolphins (5-3), who get a 2025 fifth-rounder from Denver.
Chubb’s departure comes a year after the Broncos traded franchise leader Von Miller, who helped the Rams win the Super Bowl in February before signing with the Buffalo Bills this offseason.
“Decisions like this don’t come easy,” GM George Paton said after a record-breaking dozen players were dealt on the day of the NFL trade deadline. “…but ultimately we always have to do what is best for the team. And we won’t make that decision if we don’t have confidence in the players and the coaches of this team.”
Paton said the depth at the rusher’s edge was strong enough to separate from Chubb and “the depth reading was significant. We just thought it was too good to pass up at the end of the day. It will help us continue to build our football team.”
The Broncos went 3-6 after Miller’s exit and Paton said he wanted fans and players alike to know this isn’t a surrender.
“We believe in this football team,” Paton said. “We believe in our leadership. We believe in our depth.”
He also believes his staggering offense will come around.
Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler were also coveted by other teams, but Paton chose to keep his receiving group intact while the team tries to develop more offensive chemistry.
“We wanted to keep our young, talented receivers,” said Paton. “We started finding some rhythm in our last game against Jacksonville and we just feel good about where we’re going. We’re going in the right direction with Jeudy and Hamler and Courtland (Sutton) and didn’t want to break that up.”
Paton worked out a secondary deal by acquiring fifth-year pass rusher Jacob Martin from the New York Jets in a trade that included an exchange of 2024 draft picks, with the Broncos giving up a fourth-rounder and the Jets giving up a fifth-rounder .
The first-round pick Paton received in the Chubb trade is the one the Dolphins acquired from San Francisco, which allowed the 49ers to get promoted and draft 2021 quarterback Trey Lance.
The Dolphins forfeited their own first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round pick in the 2024 draft after an NFL investigation found Miami violated the league’s anti-tampering policy regarding communications with Tom Brady.
Chubb was the fifth overall pick in the 2018 draft, a key part of Denver’s stellar defense and a leader in the dressing room, though some Broncos fans are still smart about John Elway’s bypass of Wyoming QB Josh Allen, who went to Buffalo two picks later.
Chubb has 5 1/2 sacks this season — though none in the past three weeks — and a few forced fumbles after enduring his first fully healthy offseason since his rookie year when he had a best 12 sacks alongside Miller had in his career.
With the Broncos (3-5) off to a poor start under the Nathaniel Hackett-Russell Wilson pairing, Paton found more value in what he could get for Chubb in the next draft in April than in the production he could get from the former North Carolina would get state stardom in the next nine games.
Even if the Broncos’ record had been flipped, Paton said, “We would have made the trade anyway. We found the value for money just too good. … Going forward we’ll have to fill other holes on the attacking side of the ball.”
Paton had traded his first- and second-round picks this year and next as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Wilson over from Seattle last spring.
By avoiding the mega deal on the horizon if he had kept Chubb, Paton now has the financial flexibility to re-sign rising defensive line star Dre’Mont Jones for a major overtime. “He’s one of our regular players,” said Paton. “We want him here for a long time.”
Chubb said last week that the speculation he’s a top trade target is “kind of cool” because “it lets you know I’m playing good ball where other teams are noticing.” But he added that he prefers “to stay in Denver long-term. i have my house I have everything. I feel good.”
Chubb is making nearly $14 million this season from his fifth-year option. But his career has nearly as many missed games (25) as Sacks (26).
He missed most of last season after surgeries on both ankles to remove bone spurs and didn’t have a single sack in seven games after his return. He also missed most of 2019 with a cruciate ligament tear but rebounded in 2020 with a Pro Bowl season.
Chubb’s departure comes at a time when the Broncos are injured in the pass rush department with Randy Gregory (knee) and Baron Browning (wrist) in IR. Paton said Gregory likely won’t be ready to return for Denver’s next game on Nov. 13 in Tennessee.
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AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames and AP Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed to this report.
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