Pro Football Rumors
The trade deadline has come and gone, and rumors continue to trickle in concerning details on potential trades that fell short. One of the latest such rumors concerns Baltimore’s search for a pass rusher which failed to yield a trade for Dolphins outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, an avenue the Ravens explored, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.
After finishing with the second-most sacks in the NFL in 2024, Baltimore’s defense has been unrecognizable from last year’s. Currently, the Ravens are tied with two other teams for the second-lowest sack total in the NFL. Their current sack leaders — Nnamdi Madubuike (2.0) and Tavius Robinson (2.0) — both currently sit on injured reserve; Madubuike has sat atop the Ravens’ sack leaderboard since hitting the IR after Week 2. Madubuike was joined on IR by fellow interior defender Broderick Washington.
Additionally, both of the team’s Penn State pass rushers are not available to them. Former first-round pick Odafe Oweh was traded to the Chargers in an exchange that brought safety Alohi Gilman to the secondary. Adisa Isaac, last year’s third-round pick, has let to make his 2025 debut after only appearing in four games his rookie year. The team used one of two preseason designations to return from IR on Isaac, so he’s clearly expected to be a factor at some point this year, but nine weeks into the season, we haven’t even seen his 21-day practice window open.
There were plenty of attractive pass rushing options on the trade market. The Dolphins, alone, had three in Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and Matt Judon. There were also big names coming out of New York — Quinnen Williams and Jermaine Johnson II — and a familiar name from Arizona in Calais Campbell. Some of these options were going to be much more expensive than the others, and the Ravens are known for valuing fit over pure talent.
A top-tier option like Williams was likely never on the table for Baltimore. Johnson and Phillips were going to be a stretch, as well, but they were certainly available for teams willing to shell out some higher draft picks. The Ravens opted for a middle-of-the-road option in Tennessee’s Dre’Mont Jones.
Over six years with the Broncos and Seahawks, Jones proved to be a middling performer with career highs of 6.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 13 quarterback hits. Through only nine games with the Titans this season, Jones’ totals — 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and nine quarterback hits — have him on pace to set some new career highs, especially considering he’ll get to 18 games by coming to Baltimore before the Titans’ bye week but after the Ravens’.
Chubb and Judon were seemingly around a similar tier as Jones — Judon less so, considering his age (33) and declining production over the past few years. Chubb is two years removed from his strongest season since his 12-sack rookie campaign, but one of those removed years was spent sitting out the 2024...
