Chubb Cashes In with Saints Sack

Bradley Chubb did his usual dance after he recorded a sack in the Miami Dolphins' Week 13 victory against the New Orleans Saints, but he actually had even more reasons to celebrate than normal after that play.

The sack was the sixth of the season for the veteran edge defender/outside linebacker, which meant a cool $1.225 million incentive bonus, per Spotrac.

Remember that Chubb took a pay cut in the offseason to return to the Dolphins for a third full season (he first joined the team in November 2022 in a trade with the Denver Broncos), but his new deal featuring a much lower base salary and a cap number reduced by $16 million includes incentives based on playing time and production.

Per Spotrac, Chubb got the $1.225 million for reaching six sacks and will get another $900,000 if he can get to eight sacks, and yet another $900,000 for his 11th sack and his 13th sack.

Chubb also will get an additional $1.225 million for playing at least 60 percent of the defensive snaps over the course of the 2025 season, and he's on track because he's currently at 71 percent. The playing time bonus goes to $2.125 million if he played 65 percent of the defensive snaps, $3.025 million for 70 percent, and $3.925 million for 75 percent.

This is the fifth time since Chubb entered the NFL as the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft that he has reached six sacks in a season, and the only three times he didn't were injury-marred seasons.

It happened in 2019 when Chubb was limited to four games with the Broncos, in 2021 when he played only seven games and, of course, in 2024 when he sat out the entire season recovering from the knee injury he sustained in the penultimate game of the 2023 season.

Before that December 31 injury at Baltimore, Chubb had produced 11 sacks for the Dolphins.

The ability to rush the passer never was in question so much as his ability to bounce back from a second torn ACL.

CHUBB IN CHARGE

While he started the 2025 season with a sack in each of the first three games, Chubb really started coming in after Jaelan Phillips was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.

That started with what was Chubb's best game of the season when he helped the Dolphins upset the Buffalo Bills with a sack and four QB hits of Josh Allen in the 30-13 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.

On the season, Chubb has 14 QB hits, and seven of them have come in the past three games, the first three without Phillips on the field with him. He also has two sacks in those three games.

Chubb's sack against New Orleans came early in the fourth quarter on a third-and-2 from the Saints 20-yard line with the Dolphins holding a 16-8 lead. The sack helped produce great field position (starting the drive at their 47) for Miami and led to a field goal that proved huge in the final outcome.

LOOKING AHEAD

While Chubb is enjoying what has become a pretty solid season, the reality remains he's still subject to being cut next offseason or asked to again restructure his contract.

Chubb will be turning 30 next June and his current 2026 cap number is $31 million, and the Dolphins can save about $20 million by making him a post-June 1 cut, according to Over The Cap.

What to do with Chubb is just one of the many decisions awaiting whoever will be in charge of personnel next offseason.

In the meantime, Chubb will be looking to tack on more sacks — and more bonus money in the process.