NFL

• Broncos receive: 2023 first-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick, and Chase Edmonds
• Dolphins receive: Bradley Chubb and 2025 fifth-round pick
  • Yes, the Broncos had championship aspirations entering the season, but things clearly haven’t worked out, so getting a first-round pick for Chubb, an impending free agent, is a nice haul. Morale for the team will most likely go down due to this appearing to be a throwing in of the towel, but this move is better for the long-term health of the franchise, and helps recoup some of the draft capital surrendered in the Russell Wilson trade.
  • The Dolphins were already out a first-round selection for tampering, so this further lessens their draft assets. Plus, as mentioned above, Chubb will be a free agent after this season, so the team is paying a steep price to receive the opportunity to extend the talented edge rusher. Miami is 5-3, but has a -14 point differential, so I’m not sure the team is in position to make a splash move like this. I don’t love this trade for the Fins.
• Bears receive: Chase Claypool
• Steelers receive: 2023 second-round pick
  • The Bears haven’t done a great job surrounding Justin Fields with the requisite talent for him to develop properly, but I’m not sure this was the right move to make, either. Think about it like this: Chicago will have one year of team control remaining on Claypool following 2022, but if they used the second-round selection they traded on a wide receiver this coming April, the Bears would have four years of team control. Claypool isn’t good enough to justify a difference of three years of team control. Chicago could’ve done better.
  • Pittsburgh will have to find a way to better support Kenny Pickett and replace Claypool, but it was wise of the club to jump at this offer. The Steelers should focus on heavily involving George Pickens for the second half of the season.
• Falcons receive: 2023 fifth-round pick and 2024 fourth-round pick
• Jaguars receive: Calvin Ridley
  • It’s clear the Falcons wanted to move on from the suspended Ridley, but this isn’t a great return, even if the 2024 selection converts to a second-round pick in the event the Jaguars sign Ridley to a contract extension.
  • I love this move for Jacksonville, as it’s a much better way to improve Trevor Lawrence’s weaponry than signing Christian Kirk to a $72M contract. Hopefully for the Jaguars, Ridley is the same guy, or better, in 2023 that he was with the Falcons.
• Lions receive: 2023 second-round pick and 2024 third-round pick
• Vikings receive: T.J. Hockenson, 2023 fourth-round pick, and 2024 fourth-round pick
  • Detroit smartly shipped off the veteran Hockenson at the deadline, but this return is weak. The Lions didn’t even pick up any extra draft selections, and they helped a division rival in the process.
  • Irv Smith will miss an extended period of time for Minnesota, and the Vikings couldn’t have done much better in finding a replacement. Sure, trading a second-rounder is quite steep, but Minnesota recouped the dealt picks by receiving two selections from Detroit. At 6-1, the Vikings fancy themselves as contenders, and this move should enable the team to be more competitive in a wide open NFC.
• Bills receive: Nyheim Hines
• Colts receive: Zach Moss and 2023 sixth-round pick
  • Hines is a solid backup running back, and as more of a satellite back, fits Buffalo’s offense to a tee. In relinquishing Moss and a late-round selection, the Bills didn’t give up too much.
  • I get this move from the Colts’ perspective, but it doesn’t move the needle much in either direction for the team.
• 49ers receive: 2023 fifth-round pick
• Dolphins receive: Jeff Wilson
  • San Francisco has Elijah Mitchell returning soon, so Wilson was a bit expendable. Still, Christian McCaffrey has a lengthy injury history, so perhaps hanging onto Wilson would’ve been smart, but receiving a firth-rounder is good value.
  • Miami clearly felt it had to replace Chase Edmonds, so enter Wilson. Surrendering a fifth-round pick for a run of the mill back is a little rich for my taste, but the Dolphins seem to be going for it.

NCAAF

• Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith out for season with torn pectoral muscle
  • Georgia’s defense this season hasn’t performed at the level it did in 2021 due to a significant drop-off in talent, and that dip will continue with the loss of Smith, one of the country’s top edge rushers. In particular, it will be tougher for the Bulldogs to get to Hendon Hooker this week without Smith, which could potentially lead to a Volunteers’ upset. Kirby Smart has done an excellent job recruiting defensive talent to Athens, but Smith won’t be easily replaced, so I’d expect the Georgia defense to be much more vulnerable the rest of the season.
• Ohio 45, Buffalo 24
  • Buffalo took down the MAC’s top team, at least on paper, a few weeks ago, so I felt it had a chance to cruise through the MAC East and into the championship game in Detroit. That won’t be the case. Now, Ohio holds the tiebreaker in the division, but the Bobcats have a much tougher schedule the rest of the way than the Bulls do. Buffalo should still prevail in the MAC East.

NBA

• Nets fire head coach Steve Nash and replace him with Ime Udoka
  • This decision has been spun as mutual, but that’s obviously just the team trying to spare Nash any embarrassment. This is a firing — simple as that. The Nets made the right decision here. Nash may very well be a solid coach, but things haven’t been working in Brooklyn, and Udoka should help matters move in a more positive direction. At this point, though, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Nets were involved in the Play-In Tournament.
• Bulls 108, Nets 99
  • The Nets are a joke currently. 2-6 is unacceptable for a team rostering Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but here we are. Irving shot just 2-12 with four points in this contest — a completely unordinary performance from him. To make matters worse, Joe Harris has given Brooklyn nothing this year. The Nets need T.J. Warren back at some point, or things may get uglier than they already are.
• Heat 116, Warriors 109
  • At 3-5, Golden State isn’t in quite as much trouble as Brooklyn, but this hasn’t been an ideal start for the defending champions. Stephen Curry has been amazing, but Klay Thompson has regressed in a big way, shooting just 35.1% from the field and no longer providing his disruptive perimeter defense. With that said, the Warriors will be fine.
• Thunder 116, Magic 108
  • I’m not sure what the Thunder’s plan is for this season — to try to compete or to tank, but a 4-3 start has to be encouraging, nonetheless. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went for 34 points, four rebounds, and six assists yesterday to further build on his excellent start. Oklahoma City may have to shut down its young guard at some point if it wants to receive a high lottery selection, but it’s obviously way too early to be considering that.

MLB

• Phillies 7, Astros 0
  • At this point, just throw the records out the window. The Phillies are so hot, it simply just doesn’t matter that they finished 87-75. After going 1-4 with a homer in this tilt, Bryce Harper is playing like the game’s best player, which is certainly what Philadelphia hoped for when it inked him to a 13-year deal ahead of the 2019 season. The Phillies have a nice pitching matchup with Aaron Nola on the bump tonight, as well.
  • Houston is in trouble. Lance McCullers surrendered five home runs last night, and it sure seemed as if he was tipping his pitches. Additionally, two key bats for Houston, Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman, just haven’t gotten going in this series. The Astros obviously need to grab Game 4 or Game 5 to extend the series, where they’d give themselves a fighting change to win two consecutive home games this weekend.