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Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
MIAMI — Less than 24 hours after trading for Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said the team expects to sign Chubb to a long-term deal.
The 26-year-old is in the final year of the rookie contract he signed in 2018, but Grier made it clear that Miami did not part ways with a first-round pick for a one-year rental.
“When you do a deal like that for a player, you always would like to — from our perspective when we do business — we would like to have something done, and we anticipate having something finished up here shortly,” he said.
The former Pro Bowler has recorded 5.5 sacks this season and ranks third in the NFL with a 25.8% pass rush win rate; his new teammate, Jaelan Phillips, ranks fourth.
Chubb’s career has been marred by injuries over the past three seasons. He has missed 24 out of 49 possible games entering 2022, mainly because of a torn ACL and a bone spur in his ankle. Grier said the Dolphins did extensive research into his injury history and work ethic and determined there was no major cause for concern.
“If you go around the league and look at some of the other guys that are premium pass-rushers, historically there’s been guys that have had ACLs and multiple ACL injuries, too, as well,” Grier said. “He’s a tough kid. He keeps himself in great shape.
“Listen, injuries happen. But we feel good that at his age and how he plays and the things we do that it was a risk worth taking.”
Spotrac lists Chubb’s market value at $90.5 million over four years; the Dolphins currently have $5.1 million in salary-cap space but restructured linebacker Jerome Baker‘s contract in an effort to create some flexibility, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates.
Over the next two seasons, the Dolphins will have to make decisions on several key players, such as Christian Wilkins, Andrew Van Ginkel, Nik Needham and Tua Tagovailoa, while also issuing $17 million or more to four players not including Chubb — Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead, Byron Jones and Emmanuel Ogbah. But Grier said the trade wasn’t short-sighted and they considered their future financial flexibility.
“I think when you do these type of deals, you always have to have an eye on the future,” Grier said. “For us, adding Bradley, he’s a good player, but we also feel good about Jaelan, Andrew and Melvin [Ingram]. So adding that piece to that group, but you always have to look for the future.”
Coach Mike McDaniel said the trade was something he hoped would happen, adding that Chubb has been on his radar since his time with the San Francisco 49ers.
“As you guys know, I have an affinity for edge players, it’s my specific position of choice,” he said. “Having practiced against [Chubb] back in 2019 and also in-game stuff, he’s been on our radar as one of those guys that can really dictate the terms of what [opponents] are able to do offensively, which is why it’s cool to have him here.”
At 5-3 through the first eight weeks of the season, the Dolphins have looked like a playoff contender in the AFC — largely thanks to the success of their seventh-ranked offense. Led by the NFL’s leader in quarterback rating, Tagovailoa, Miami is poised to snap a 27-year drought without a top-10 offense.
But Grier and McDaniel insisted this move for Chubb was simply about adding “a really good player at a premium position,” and not the result of an accelerated timeline due to Tagovailoa’s development in 2022.
“I would say it has an effect on it,” Grier said. “But I don’t think we looked at it — because you heard us from day one, especially Mike from day one was like, ‘This is the guy, and we’re going to win a lot of games with him.'”
McDaniel reaffirmed Tagovailoa’s status as the franchise’s quarterback and acknowledged that having confidence in your quarterback makes it easier to make “big picture” decisions.
“There is some clarity in being very, very confident in your starting quarterback,” McDaniel said.
“From the get-go, I’ve fully seen Tua as our quarterback for this team and this franchise. I think he’s an unbelievable talent. … This is not something that we rethought after he had a good game. This is something that, since I’ve been here, we’ve kind of known and we’ve been able to operate with that in mind with all the things that we’ve done.”