The Miami Dolphins, similar to the other 31 NFL teams, have until Tuesday, August 27, to trim their crowded roster of 90 players down to 53 by 4 P.M. ET. NFL teams, over the next few days, will have to make the most difficult decisions, releasing/waiving players who have fought long and hard for their whole lives to fulfill their dream of playing in the National Football League and making an active roster. Another challenging decision teams must make is handling players on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list since they haven’t practiced throughout training camp.
Suppose a player starts training camp on the active/PUP list. They count against the active roster and can participate in team activities but cannot practice or play in any preseason games. The team must activate them to the active roster if they pass their physical or return to practice. If they aren’t quite ready for the start of the season, the teams will place them on the reserve/PUP list at the roster cutdown deadline, and they will miss at least the first four games.
The Dolphins had to decide whether to place their elite pass rusher on the PUP list.
The Miami Dolphins elite pass rusher suffered a significant injury later in the season
Bradley Chubb exited the fourth quarter with a significant knee injury in the Dolphins’ Week 17 19-56 blowout loss to the Ravens. An MRI confirmed that he had torn his ACL and would miss the remainder of the season, which was a fatal blow to their pass rush. Since his injury occurred later in the season and considering ACL tear recovery usually takes nine to twelve months, the Dolphins were concerned that his recovery could trickle into the regular season and miss the first four games.
Chubb missed spring practices. The Dolphins placed him on the active/PUP list to start training camp. As a result, he has missed the entirety of practice and their three preseason games. The Dolphins will not rush his injury.
Bradley Chubb will miss the start of the season
The Dolphins will place Chubb on the reserve/PUP list at the roster cutdown deadline (Tuesday). He will miss at least the first four games of the season. Finscentral suggests that Chubb could return on Week 7 since they have a bye in Week 6, reaching the nine-month recovery time.
With the Dolphins playing the Patriots week 5 and then having a week 6 bye, I could see week 7 as a return target date for Bradley Chubb. That will give him nearly 2 months to ramp up.
— Finscentral (@finscentral) August 26, 2024
Who will replace him?
Chop Robinson will replace Bradley Chubb in the starting rotation. Robinson, the 21st pick of this year’s draft, has received starting reps with the first-team defense throughout training camp. He has immense potential and caught the attention of the Buccaneers’ elite left tackle Tristan Wirfs during joint practices a week ago.
“He sees something great in me, that’s what he said,” Robinson said, via The Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad. “And of course, he’s great. He just got paid.”
Emmanuel Ogbah will serve as the backup EDGE rusher. Ogbah spent the last four seasons in Miami before getting released in February in a cost-cutting move. However, they brought him back on a one-year deal after Shaq Barrett announced his retirement before training camp started.
