The Miami Dolphins added a difference-maker successful a monster commercialized up of Tuesday's deadline, acquiring extracurricular linebacker Bradley Chubb from the Denver Broncos successful speech for a 2023 first-round pick, moving backmost Chase Edmonds and a 2024 fourth-round pick.
It's the latest successful a bid of splashy moves Miami has made implicit the past 8 months, including hiring caput manager and violative guru Mike McDaniel, signing franchise near tackle Terron Armstead and trading for wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
And portion Miami's discourtesy has looked explosive this season, the different broadside of the shot has sputtered, ranking 23rd successful yards allowed per crippled and 27th successful antiaircraft EPA. Pro Bowl borderline rusher Chubb should assistance alteration that significantly.
ESPN Dolphins newsman Marcel Louis-Jacques, Broncos newsman Jeff Legwold, NFL expert Matt Bowen and NFL draught expert Jordan Reid reply the biggest questions surrounding the trade.
Why did the Dolphins marque the deal?
Chubb fits successful arsenic a boon to a walk unreserved that blitzes astatine the fifth-highest complaint successful the league but owns the sixth-lowest sack percentage. The Dolphins besides fertile 21st successful sacks and 27th successful pressures with 15 and 69, respectively.
A erstwhile first-round prime retired of North Carolina State, Chubb has 26 vocation sacks successful 5 NFL seasons, including 5.5 successful 2022. He and caller teammate Jaelan Phillips fertile 12th and ninth successful pressures created.
Ideally, Chubb volition let Miami to make unit without blitzing, thing it's struggled to bash this season. After season-ending injuries to aggregate starters successful its secondary, this is simply a nonstop committedness to flipping its antiaircraft focal constituent to the beforehand 7 -- astatine slightest for this season. When afloat healthy, this could beryllium 1 of the apical defenses successful the NFL. -- Louis-Jacques
What does this mean for Russell Wilson and Denver's future?
Denver gave up 2 first-round picks, 2 second-round picks, a fourth-round prime and 3 players to the Seattle Seahawks successful speech for Wilson successful March, truthful this gets them backmost into the archetypal circular of adjacent year's draft.
Chubb was successful the past twelvemonth of his rookie woody and his asking terms was apt going to beryllium bigger than the Broncos wanted to pay. It means antiaircraft extremity Randy Gregory, who signed a five-year, $70 cardinal woody successful escaped bureau earlier this year, and Baron Browning, who was moved to OLB during the offseason, person to beryllium each spot the players the Broncos judge they tin be.
Both are connected the injured reserve database astatine the moment, but the 2 of them, successful summation to rookie Nik Bonitto, volition find if the commercialized made consciousness for the Broncos. -- Legwold
What does Denver request successful the draught present that it's backmost successful Round 1?
The Broncos are backmost successful Round 1, and ESPN's Football Power Index presently projects the traded prime to beryllium No. 25. Denver needs assistance on the violative beforehand -- it has allowed 24 sacks, sixth-most successful the NFL -- and Georgia's Broderick Jones and Maryland's Jaelyn Duncan are 2 prospects the squad could people successful that range. Wide receiver could besides beryllium a presumption to look at. -- Reid
How overmuch does this tighten the AFC East race?
This determination doesn't automatically marque the Dolphins the AFC East favorite, but it does permission them much equipped to look quarterbacks similar Josh Allen, and perchance Patrick Mahomes.
This is inactive the Buffalo Bills' part to lose, but with Miami's adjacent 3 games coming against teams with losing records (Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans), the Dolphins could beryllium comfortably implicit .500 earlier a grueling December slate (at San Francisco 49ers, astatine Los Angeles Chargers, astatine Bills, vs. Green Bay Packers). Miami did triumph its archetypal gathering with Buffalo this play but inactive needs to overtake New York aft losing to the Jets successful Week 5.
Now that Tua Tagovailoa is steadfast again and backmost successful the lineup, the Dolphins could adjacent scope the NFL's precocious echelon if their defence gets the boost Chubb is expected to provide. -- Louis-Jacques
How does Chubb acceptable into Miami's scheme?
The summation of Chubb, a pass-rusher with upper-tier traits, volition let the Dolphins to play much sum and thin heavy connected their antiaircraft front. This season, Miami has registered a blitz complaint of 34.1%, which is tied for fifth-highest successful the league. But pairing Chubb with Jaelan Phillips means the Dolphins tin stake connected their borderline rushers successful passing situations and disrupt the pouch much retired of their basal fronts. Miami is presently generating unit connected conscionable 18.8% of hostile dropbacks erstwhile sending 4 oregon less pass-rushers (29th), truthful Chubb's beingness disconnected the borderline volition unfastened up the playcalling connected defence and lighten the request to blitz truthful often. -- Bowen
By giving up draught picks, does this mean the Dolphins are each in?
It definite seems similar it. General manager Chris Grier made it a constituent to support the team's brace of first-round picks successful 2023 portion discussing trades with different teams during the offseason, but the Dolphins are present without a first-rounder for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row. It's important to retrieve they bash inactive ain a second-round prime and 2 third-round picks successful 2023, truthful they haven't wholly mortgaged their future.
But trading for Chubb is an assertive determination that signifies this beforehand bureau recognizes a imaginable Super Bowl model -- and wants to onslaught it wholeheartedly. -- Louis-Jacques
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