Given their inability to effectively rush the passer in recent years and again in 2025, the Bucs would be wise to explore all possible edge rusher options this offseason. Whether it’s through free agency, the draft or both avenues, Tampa Bay should be in the market for two or even three new pass rushers in the coming months.

On Monday morning, another possible target emerged for the Bucs with some interesting news coming out of Miami. NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the Dolphins and Bradley Chubb are parting ways, making the two-time Pro Bowler a free agent.

Chubb is 29 years old and headed into his age-30 season in 2026 after four and a half seasons with the Broncos and three and a half years with the Dolphins.

The No. 5 overall pick out of North Carolina State in 2018, the 6-foot-4, 268-pound pass rusher posted 26 sacks over 49 games with Denver from 2018-2022. He had 12 sacks and 57 total pressures as a rookie in 2018 and while he played only four games in 2019 due to a torn ACL, he posted 7.5 sacks and another 57 pressures in 14 games during the 2020 season on his way to his first career Pro Bowl selection.

After being limited to seven games in 2021 due to injury, Chubb had 5.5 sacks through eight games in the 2022 season before the Broncos traded him along with a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Dolphins for a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 fourth-rounder and Chase Edmonds. Though he only tallied 2.5 sacks over the final eight games that season once he arrived in Miami, Chubb still finished that season with eight sacks and 54 pressures, which earned him his second Pro Bowl nod.

Former Dolphins OLB Bradley Chubb – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Jim Rassol

Chubb had another Pro Bowl-caliber season for Miami in 2023, totaling 11 sacks and six forced fumbles (leading the league) while putting up a career-high 70 total pressures. But another ACL tear at the end of that season wound up costing him the 2024 campaign as well. He returned in 2025 and played all 17 games, posting 8.5 sacks, 20 quarterback hits and 48 total pressures.

Over 90 career games (89 starts), Chubb has 48 sacks, 112 quarterback hits, 306 total pressures, 15 forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and an interception.

What Might Bradley Chubb Cost The Bucs?

There’s no doubt that Bradley Chubb will have a good market as a free agent this spring. If the Bucs are one of the interested teams, how much might the two-time Pro Bowler cost them?

Chubb was set to earn $20.2 million in cash this season after taking a pay cut down to $11 million in 2025. That cash commitment is part of the reason Miami is moving on from the soon-to-be 30-year-old pass rusher, and while he did have 8.5 sacks in his first year back from a torn ACL, Pewter Report’s resident salary cap expert Josh Queipo doesn’t believe Chubb will fetch that kind of money on the open market.

Rather, Queipo’s projection for Chubb is somewhere between $13 million-$15 million per year over a two-year deal.

The Bucs are in dire need of a No. 1 pass rusher to pair with Yaya Diaby, who is entering his fourth NFL season and a contract year in 2026. Through three seasons, it has felt like Diaby is better suited for a No. 1B or No. 2 pass rusher role, and Tampa Bay has yet to find that true No. 1 it needs.

There was an effort to find that guy last offseason when the team signed Haason Reddick to a one-year, $14 million deal in hopes that he would return to his previous form after a down year with the Jets in 2024. But that didn’t happen, as Reddick dealt with some injuries and was held to only 2.5 sacks over 13 games with the Bucs.

Reddick signed with Tampa Bay ahead of his age-31 season, and it was a signing that fell flat for general manager Jason Licht and his staff. Would Licht and Co. turn right back around and spend similar money on a pass rusher entering his age-30 season with two torn ACLs thus far in his career?

Bucs GM Jason Licht and assistant GM Mike Greenberg – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It’s a fair question, and Queipo’s suggestion would be to pass on Chubb at that projected cost. But this is a different situation, so as much of a bust as the Reddick signing proved to be for the Bucs, they can’t afford to pass on Chubb solely on the basis of not wanting a repeat of last offseason’s big-money acquisition.

Chubb is coming off an 8.5-sack season, for one, while Reddick signed after a one-sack season in New York. Chubb is also a year younger, and while he didn’t have the same peak that Reddick had, his recent track record (19.5 sacks over the last two seasons he’s played) could be more enticing for a defense in desperate need of some pass rush help.

Plus, Licht and the Bucs were high on Bradley Chubb ahead of the 2018 Draft. “Who wasn’t?” is a question you might ask, but it’s worth noting that Tampa Bay will have already done some extensive scouting on him in the past.

The Bucs have also seen Chubb twice over the course of his career, once in 2020 when he tallied a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit as a Bronco and more recently last December when he had two sacks and a forced fumble in a 20-17 Dolphins’ win over the Buccaneers.