ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — 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 are getting a 2025 fifth-rounder from Denver.
Chubb’s departure comes a year after the Broncos traded franchise sacks leader Von Miller, who helped the Rams win the Super Bowl in February before signing with the Buffalo Bills this offseason.
“This was a difficult decision that involved many considerations as we work to build a championship team,” GM George Paton said in a statement. “We have great confidence in our players, including a talented group of pass rushers, and this trade brings us significant draft capital to continue improving our roster.
“Our goals and expectations of winning – and sustaining that success in pursuit of a Super Bowl – will not change,” Paton added. “We believe in this team and are excited for the opportunity we have in the second half of the year.”
Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler also were coveted leading up to the NFL’s trade deadline Tuesday, but Paton chose to keep his receiving group intact as the team tries to develop more chemistry on offense over the second half of the season.
To bolster his suddenly depleted pass rush, Paton worked out a secondary deal in acquiring fifth-year pass rusher Jacob Martin from the New York Jets in a deal that included an exchange of 2024 draft picks with the Broncos giving up a fourth-rounder and the Jets a fifth-rounder.
The first-round pick Paton obtained in the Chubb trade is the one that the Dolphins acquired from San Francisco that allowed the 49ers to move up and draft quarterback Trey Lance in 2021.
The Dolphins forfeited their own 2023 first-round selection and a third-round selection in the 2024 draft after an NFL investigation found that Miami violated the league’s anti-tampering policy regarding communication with Tom Brady.
That probe stemmed from former Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the league and also resulted in the suspension of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who has since returned.
Chubb was the fifth overall pick in the 2018 draft, a key part of Denver’s stellar defense and a locker room leader, although some Broncos fans still smart over John Elway’s bypassing of Wyoming QB Josh Allen, who went two picks later to Buffalo.
Chubb has 5 1/2 sacks this season – although none in the past three weeks – and a pair of forced fumbles after coming off his first fully healthy offseason since his rookie year when he had a career-best 12 sacks playing alongside Miller.
With the Broncos (3-5) off to a bad start under the Nathaniel Hackett-Russell Wilson coupling, Paton found more value in what he could get for Chubb in next April’s draft than in the production he’d get from the former North Carolina State star over the next nine games.
Chubb is making nearly $14 million on his fifth-year option this season.
49ERS-DOLPHINS: San Francisco has traded running back Jeff Wilson Jr. to Miami for a fifth-round pick, according to reports.
The Niners had a surplus at running back after trading for Christian McCaffrey last month and with Week 1 starter Elijah Mitchell set to return after the bye week from a knee injury.
So they managed to recoup a draft pick after trading away four of them for McCaffrey and reunited Wilson with Miami coach Mike McDaniel, who had been in charge of the running game in San Francisco for Wilson’s first four seasons in the NFL.
STEELERS-BEARS: Pittsburgh has traded wide receiver Chase Claypool to Chicago for a second-round pick in the 2023 draft, according to reports.
The trade gives Chicago quarterback Justin Fields a downfield threat in an effort to boost a passing attack that ranks last in the NFL, averaging just 126.9 yards per game.
Claypool has 32 receptions for 301 yards and one touchdown this season for the Steelers (2-6). He also threw the first touchdown pass of his career in last week’s loss to Philadelphia with a short flip to fullback Derek Watt on a gadget play.
The 6-foot-4 Claypool, however, became expendable thanks to the emergence of rookie George Pickens. Pickens has quickly emerged as Pittsburgh’s No. 2 receiver, bumping Claypool to third on the depth chart behind Pickens and Diontae Johnson.
Claypool was a revelation in 2020 after being grabbed in the second round, scoring 10 touchdowns (eight receiving, two rushing) in his first 10 games while helping Pittsburgh get off to an 11-0 start on its way to the AFC North title. Replicating that production has proven difficult. Claypool has just four touchdowns in his past 29 games.
COMMANDERS-STEELERS: The Pittsburgh Steelers bolstered their secondary, acquiring cornerback William Jackson from Washington in a swap of late-round draft picks.
Pittsburgh sent a conditional sixth-rounder in 2025 to Washington for Jackson and a conditional seventh that year.
LIONS-VIKINGS: Minnesota acquired tight end T.J. Hockenson from division rival Detroit, adding another skill-position standout to a high-caliber offense for the NFC North leader.
The Vikings simply downgraded two draft picks with no net loss to make the swap with the Lions. They sent a 2023 second-rounder and a 2024 third-rounder for the Lions, for a 2023 fourth-rounder and a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder. The Vikings announced the deal, pending completion of Hockenson passing a physical exam.
Hockenson has been one of the league’s most productive tight ends since the Lions picked him eighth overall in the first round of the 2019 draft out of Iowa. He made the Pro Bowl in 2020 and has 2,068 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns in 47 games. The Lions (1-6) previously picked up Hockenson’s fifth-year contract option for 2023, so the Vikings (6-1) are getting more than just a half-season rental from a last-place team going through another rebuilding process.
The Vikings could be without primary tight end Irv Smith Jr. for multiple weeks after he sprained his ankle on Sunday against Arizona.
FALCONS-JAGUARS: Suspended Atlanta receiver Calvin Ridley is getting a fresh start in Jacksonville, although it’s unclear when he will be allowed to play again.
The Jaguars made a complex deal to land Ridley just before the NFL trading deadline. A person with knowledge of the trade says compensation to the Falcons ranges between a second-round pick in 2024 and a sixth-rounder. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details had not been made public.
The pick is contingent on when Ridley gets reinstated, how much he plays and whether he signs a long-term deal with the Jaguars.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Ridley in March for at least the 2022 season after a league investigation determined Ridley bet on NFL games in 2021 while away from the team addressing mental health concerns. The league said the suspension will carry “through at least the conclusion of the 2022 season.”
FALCONS-CHIEFS: The Atlanta Falcons, in need of depth at cornerback, acquired Rashad Fenton from the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2023 conditional seventh-round pick.
Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell missed Sunday’s 37-34 overtime win over Carolina with a hamstring injury. Casey Hayward, who opened the season with Terrell as the starting cornerbacks, is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
COLTS: Indianapolis Coach Frank Reich continued shaking up the offense Tuesday by firing offensive coordinator Marcus Brady.
The move comes two days after another loss, 17-16 to Washington, in which the Colts scored just one touchdown and nine days after Reich announced a quarterback change. Brady, one of the few but expanding group of minority NFL coordinators, was promoted to the post last season when Nick Sirianni left Indy to take the Philadelphia Eagles head coaching job.
Indy (3-4-1) has lost two straight and is 2 1/2 games behind Tennessee in the AFC South, but just one game out of playoff position.
OBITS: John McVay, the executive who helped launch the San Francisco 49ers dynasty and grandfather of Rams Coach Sean McVay, has died. He was 91.
The 49ers announced that McVay had died. They did not give a cause of death.
McVay spent 22 seasons with the 49ers starting in 1979 in various capacities. He played an integral role along with Coach Bill Walsh in building one of the league’s greatest dynasties that won five Super Bowl titles in a span of 14 seasons.
Before joining the 49ers, McVay was the head coach of the Giants for two-plus seasons. He had a 14-23 record for New York and his most memorable game featured a late fumble by Joe Pisarcik when the Giants could have kneeled out the clock. Herm Edwards returned it for a winning TD for Philadelphia in a 19-17 win on Nov. 19, 1978, that is now known as the “Miracle at the Meadowlands.”
•Adam Zimmer, a former Minnesota co-defensive coordinator, an NFL assistant for 17 years and the son of previous Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, has died. He was 38.
Corri Zimmer White, his younger sister, confirmed the death on her Instagram account on Tuesday. Adam Zimmer died on Monday, she said. No cause was given.
“The kindest, sweetest, family loving, sports obsessed soul there ever was,” Zimmer White wrote.
Adam Zimmer was working this season as an offensive analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals, after eight years with the Vikings under his father. When Mike Zimmer was fired in January, the majority of his staff was also dismissed.
CHIEFS: Former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid was sentenced to three years in prison for driving drunk, speeding and hitting two parked cars last year, leaving a 5-year-old girl with a serious brain injury.
Reid pleaded guilty in September to driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison, but prosecutors had agreed to ask for a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Reid sought probation. The injured girl’s family had opposed the plea deal.
Circuit Judge Charles H. McKenzie sentenced Reid and he was set to be taken into custody.
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