Up until this point, the Buffalo Bills have been relatively quiet on the free-agent market so far this offseason, reportedly coming to an agreement with just nickel cornerback Dee Alford and backup quarterback Kyle Allen to deals prior to today’s official beginning of the new league year that opened up at 4 p.m. ET.
And while the team also traded for wide receiver D.J. Moore on top of bringing back center Connor McGovern and punter Mitch Wishnowsky, fans seemingly wanted — and ultimately expected — more.
At least a little more.
With needs seemingly still at safety, linebacker, EDGE, and offensive guard, as well as across the defensive line, there was growing belief that President of Football Operations and General Manager Brandon Beane could pull some strings rather early on in the process to get out in front of everything in order to fill as many holes as possible prior to the upcoming draft in April.
Well, time to breathe a sigh of relief.
For those of you who have been clamoring for more of a “big swing” from Beane outside of the Moore trade — you got your wish . . . sort of.
The Bills are reportedly signing former Denver Broncos’ and Miami Dolphins’ EDGE Bradley Chubb to a three-year, $43.5 million deal worth up to $52.5 million that ties the soon-to-be 30-year-old pass rusher to Buffalo through 2028. The deal includes $29 million in guarantees.
A former top selection of the Broncos, Chubb was taken with the fifth-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft — the spot that many thought quarterback Josh Allen was going to be taken when coming out of the University of Wyoming that offseason.
In the end, Denver stood pat and wound up selecting Chubb out of North Carolina State University, while Buffalo was fortunate enough to snag Allen without having to trade up with the Broncos.
Now, the two will be teammates in Orchard Park.
At 6-foot-4, 268 pounds, the former Wolfpack standout registered 26 sacks and an incredible 60 tackles for loss in his collegiate career en route to becoming a top-five pick before landing in Colorado for the first four-and-a-half seasons of his NFL career where he racked up 183 combined tackles, 34 tackles for loss, and 26 sacks for Denver in 57 regular season games before being sent to the Miami Dolphins in November of 2022 in a blockbuster trade that saw Chubb and a 2025 fifth-round pick go to Miami in exchange for running back Chase Edmonds, a 2023 first-round pick, and a 2024 fourth-round pick.
The Marietta, Georgia, native immediately signed a new five-year, $110 million contract extension with the Dolphins upon his arrival as he was playing on the fifth-year option at the time.
Since inking that deal, however, Chubb has been a bit of an up-and-down performer during his tenure with the Dolphins, known for lacking consistency in terms of quarterback pressures, but somehow still finding a way to register sacks in the stat column.
Chubb also suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in Week 17 of 2023, which marked the second such injury of his professional career as Chubb had already previously suffered a torn ACL in his left knee while with the Broncos back in 2019.
Despite all of that, Buffalo’s newest defensive piece still found a way to make an impact in his shortened time with Miami, tallying 73 combined tackles, 22 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, and a league-leading six forced fumbles in that aforementioned 2023 season before bouncing back with 47 total tackles, 20 quarterback hits, eight-and-a-half sacks, eight tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery last year after missing all of 2024 due to his injury.
For his eight-year career, Chubb has 303 total tackles, 112 quarterback hits, 53 tackles for loss, 48 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, seven pass deflections, four fumble recoveries, and one interception across 89 starts in the regular season.
He has played in just one playoff game, which ironically came in a 32-29 loss with Miami against Buffalo at Highmark Stadium in the Wildcard round of the 2022 season. He finished that game with one sack and one forced fumble.
With all of that said, the Chubb signing seems to make sense given the reports from various national media outlets that Buffalo was lurking around on the Trey Hendrickson sweepstakes over the past few days, ultimately striking out on a consummation as the prized free agent wound up in Baltimore when all was said and done.
Add in the fact that Buffalo saw the contracts of A.J. Epenesa and Joey Bosa expire at the end of last season, and it was clear to see that EDGE was a fairly large need for the team, even if it was simply for the fact that they needed bodies at the position moving forward.
The only question is how you may feel about Chubb as a player.
While one certainly can’t deny his pedigree as a former top pick and a player who has nearly 50 sacks in his career, there’s an argument to be made that the veteran is on the downward side of his career, especially considering how he suffered the second ACL tear of his career just two seasons ago.
The move smells an awful lot like what Beane cooked up with Bosa last year — signing a former somewhat elite pass rusher in hopes that they can revive their career in Buffalo.
While the move is certainly worth the dart throw, it’s anything but a given that it will work out. Although, nothing ever is. He did have a 12.2% pressure rate in 2025, though, and his 48 total pressures would’ve been good for second on the Bills last season.
If Chubb can somehow manage to pair well with Greg Rousseau, Michael Hoecht, and Landon Jackon in Jim Leonhard’s EDGE rotation, then nobody will bat an eye at the deal that was just struck with the former Dolphin.
However, if it doesn’t pan out, many will look back at the failed attempt to get Hendrickson or Maxx Crosby (we forgot to mention that whole debacle), and continue to wonder — what if?
Here’s to hoping this year’s iteration of “Mission: Get Better Pass Rush At A Reduced Rate” works out much better than it has in the past.
As always, stay tuned right here at the Buffalo Fambase blog for all the latest news and nuggets surrounding the Buffalo Bills this offseason.
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to John Green for his contributions to our blog. You can also find John on X @JGreen_PRsports.
BuffaloFAMbase.com is sponsored by 26 Shirts
Every Monday, we launch a two-week campaign of a new Buffalo-themed t-shirt design. Every purchase results in a donation to a local family in need. After the campaign ends, the shirt is typically retired. A new design is released, and a new family benefits from your fandom!
