It seemed crazy at the time – the Dolphins signing Chase Edmonds to a two-year contract worth $12 million – and it can officially be categorized as such now. Edmonds has been sent to Denver as a throw-in on the trade involving Bradley Chubb.
The contract Miami gave Edmonds included $6 million in guaranteed money. That was remarkable money, considering teams don’t spend much on that position. Both Rashaad Penny and Cordarrelle Patterson, who have done some good things at running back, signed contracts averaging less than Edmonds.
He’s a salary dump player now. The Dolphins were looking to simply get rid of him, having figured out after a couple of weeks that Raheem Mostert is a better fit in their offense. They’ve got the two University of Washington backs behind him: Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin. Gaskin is the better pass catcher of the two; he might become active now, picking up some third down work. If Mostert were to get hurt (and he’s never stayed healthy for now) they’d probably go to a one-two punch of those backs.
The Broncos lost Javonte Williams a few weeks back and Mike Boone is also on IR. They could be looking to add some depth at the position. Edmonds is a better pass catcher than Latavius Murray and Melvin Gordon, who’ve been doing most of their pass catching. (I don’t see Edmonds doing much with the Broncos – I think he’ll be their third back.)
But mostly this deal was about capturing a first-round pick for Chubb, who’s halfway through the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. The Dolphins presumably believe Chubb will re-sign with them, and that he could maybe help them make some noise in the playoffs. Seven teams in the AFC will make the postseason, and the Dolphins are currently one of seven in the conference with a winning record.
As for Edmonds, he averaged more than 3.5 yards per carry in only one of his six games with the Dolphins.
| CHASE EDMONDS WITH MIAMI | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Score | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Receiving |
| N.E. | W 20-7 | 12 | 25 | 2.1 | 0 | 4-40-0 |
| at Bal. | W 42-38 | 5 | 33 | 6.6 | 0 | 1-8-0 |
| Buff. | W 21-19 | 6 | 21 | 3.5 | 2 | 1-6-0 |
| at Cin. | L 15-27 | 5 | 6 | 1.2 | 0 | 2-14-1 |
| at NYJ | L 17-40 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Min. | L 16-24 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 2-28-0 |
| Pitt. | W 16-10 | 7 | 17 | 2.4 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| at Det. | W 31-27 | 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 0 | 0-0-0 |
—Ian Allan