Getty Bradley Chubb of the Denver Broncos.
With the NFL trade deadline looming on November 1, teams need to start deciding whether they’re buyers or sellers, especially the Denver Broncos.
According to an October 23 tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the “Broncos have received multiple trade inquiries” about pass rusher Bradley Chubb and wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler.
“Other teams have said the Broncos will not sell low in a deal and will be value traders — if they make any trades at all,” Schefter said.
Denver (2-5) is in a tough spot but still has a chance to turn the season around and contend for the playoffs. The Broncos’ playoff chances are sitting at a 6% chance to make the playoffs entering their home game against the New York Jets, per FiveThirtyEight.com. A win against New York would put them over the 20% mark.
Denver will host the Jets and then travel to London to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars before they hit their bye week. There’s also a real chance that backup quarterback Brett Rypien will have to start both games because of Wilson’s partially torn hamstring, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Bradley Chubb Would Bring Back the Most Compensation
In a perfect world, Denver would not want to trade any of its top starters, but if the season gets worse, the Broncos might have to make moves for the future given that they have just five draft picks in the 2023 draft. The Broncos traded away their first- and second-round picks in the 2022 and 2023 drafts to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Russell Wilson.
If the Broncos want to get the most value in return in a trade, they would likely have to trade a player of Chubb’s caliber. With 5.5 sacks, he is off to the best start of his five-year career as he plays on the option year of his rookie contract. The Broncos have not rewarded him with a long-term deal because of injury concerns.
As a rookie, Chubb had the best year of his career, totaling 12 sacks and a combined 61 tackles, but he combined for just 8.5 sacks in 18 games over the next two seasons.
In 2019, Chubb suffered a partially torn ACL, which would sideline him for the rest of the season after just four games. In 2021, he missed 10 games after undergoing ankle surgery. Last season, Chubb didn’t record a single sack in the seven games he appeared in.
It’s unclear what Chubb’s draft compensation would be in a trade, but by playing in a contract year, a contending team could view Chubb as a rental, as the Los Angeles Rams did with Von Miller last year, when Broncos general manager dealt him for a second- and third-round pick.
If the Broncos don’t trade Chubb, they could sign him to a long-term deal, place the franchise tag (and pay him close to $20 million) for next season or let him walk in free agency.
Time to Trade Russell Wilson’s Weapons?
Broncos wide receivers Jeudy and Hamler were the first- and second-round picks in the 2020 draft under former general manager John Elway. Paton has slowly started moving away from Elway’s draft picks and molding the Denver roster into his own.
Jeudy and Hamler haven’t put up the production that the Broncos had hoped for. Denver thought of Jeudy as the top wide receiver in the 2020 draft class that included Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Brandon Aiyuk and Tee Higgins.
Jeudy has not matched the production of those receivers even with Wilson throwing to him. He is averaging just 48.3 yards per game on 17 total receptions and has scored just two touchdowns. Last season, he appeared in 10 games and didn’t score a single touchdown after scoring three in his rookie season.
Viewed as a potential Tyreek Hill-type player, Hamler scored three touchdowns as a rookie in 2020 but has yet to score since. Denver had planned on Hamler being a deep threat for their offense, but he has yet to average 30 yards per game in a season. The former Penn State standout did miss most of last season with a torn ACL and missed the entire offseason and most of training camp this year.
Schefter also reported that the Broncos are thought to be open to trading tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. Being one of the five tight ends on the roster, Okwuegbunam hasn’t gotten much playing time in a crowded TE room. Catching just seven passes for 10 yards per reception this season, Okwuegbunam has been playing behind Andrew Beck and Eric Saubert and was not activated in Weeks 6 and 7.