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Nick Chubb

Nick Chubb Diagnosed With MCL Tear; Browns RB Likely Facing Multiple Surgeries

September 24th, 2023 at 5:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

Nick Chubb‘s season-ending knee injury has led some to question his ability to return to football given the nature of the damage seemingly done during the Week 2 Monday night contest. Further testing has indicated the worst-case scenario has been avoided for the Browns back, however.

Testing revealed Chubb suffered an MCL tear in his left knee, as detailed by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Crucially, though, his ACL is believed to be intact. Surgery will likely take place in the coming days, and there is optimism that no further damage in the knee will be discovered during that process.

Presuming that winds up being the case, Schefter adds Chubb will be facing a 6-8 month recovery timeframe. Given how early in the season the injury occurred, that timetable could put him in line to return to action by the start of next season, a relatively encouraging development considering the nature in which he departed Cleveland’s loss to the Steelers.

On the other hand, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes Chubb will likely require two surgeries to addresses the damage done to his knee (something which is common practice in cases such as his). A full ACL reconstruction may be required, though determining whether that is the case or not will take place during the first procedure. Plenty thus remains to be seen regarding the extent of Chubb’s injury and the specifics of his rehab process to come.

With the four-time Pro Bowler sidelined, Cleveland turned to 2022 fifth-rounder Jerome Ford as the team’s new lead back. That decision came with the knowledge a backfield addition of some kind would be made, and the Browns made the unsurprising move of reuniting with Kareem Hunt earlier this week. The tandem logged 19 total touches in Sunday’s lopsided win over the Titans, with Ford scoring a pair of touchdowns.

Notably, Schefter adds that the Browns – named as a suitor for Cam Akers, who was ultimately dealt to the Vikings – also considering poaching Bam Knight off the Lions’ practice squad. The latter was added to Detroit’s active roster earlier this week with David Montgomery suffering an injury, but he would have added a depth presence to the Browns’ backfield had the team enticed him to head to Cleveland. In the end, though, Hunt is back for a fifth campaign with his hometown team while all parties move forward in Chubb’s absence.

Nick Chubb Suffers Multiple Ligament Tears, Out For Season

September 20th, 2023 at 10:34am CST by Sam Robinson

SEPTEMBER 20: The Browns made the expected move of shifting Chubb to IR. The team also confirmed Wednesday that the four-time Pro Bowler will miss the rest of the season. Hunt is now officially back on Cleveland’s roster as a replacement.

SEPTEMBER 18: Nick Chubb‘s injury is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season. The standout Browns running back is believed to have suffered multiple ligament tears, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.

It is not known which ligaments are torn, but the cart coming out to transport Chubb off the field in Pittsburgh — and ABC opting to not show a close-up replay of the injury — pointed to this outcome. More tests are on tap for Chubb, but he is unlikely to play again until 2024. Kevin Stefanski soon confirmed Chubb is expected to be out for the season.

Chubb’s contract runs through the 2024 season, but this will obviously deal a blow to his career and the Browns’ 2023 season. This is the same knee Chubb hurt while at Georgia. In October 2015, Chubb tore the MCL, PCL and LCL in his left knee. He came back to re-establish his standing with the Bulldogs and has since become one of the NFL’s best running backs. But the perennial Pro Bowler will be facing a road back much later in his career. Chubb will turn 28 in December.

The 2018 second-round pick had entered Week 2 as one of the league’s most durable backs. Chubb suffered a sprained MCL in 2020, costing him four games. He missed two contests the following year due to a calf strain. Otherwise, the top-tier back had avoided setbacks and continued to produce each year for the Browns.

Chubb did well to secure a three-year, $36.6MM extension in July 2021. That deal did not top the market, with Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and Ezekiel Elliott tied to higher-end contracts at that point. But Chubb collected $20MM guaranteed, signing a Browns re-up months after he became extension-eligible. While Chubb had long been taken care of — as the most recent RB to sign an eight-figure-per-year extension — he still participated in the Zoom meeting in which running backs discussed the declining state of their position. (That has since become the subject of an NFL grievance.) The injuries to Chubb and Saquon Barkley, who suffered a sprained ankle Sunday, will only intensify the attention given to the position.

While the likes of Michael Vick, Randall Cunningham and Russell Wilson sit above Chubb for career yards per carry, the modern Browns dynamo is in historically elite company among running backs in this department. Chubb came into Monday night with a 5.3-yard average, never finishing a season south of five yards per tote. For post-merger backs, only Jamaal Charles (5.4) and Bo Jackson reside above Chubb. He has ripped off four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, hitting a career-high 1,525 last year.

The Browns made some changes behind Chubb this offseason, letting Kareem Hunt and D’Ernest Johnson walk in free agency. Hunt had been Chubb’s backup since his personal conduct suspension ended midway through the 2019 season, while Johnson played behind both the standout backs in Cleveland. Johnson is now a Jaguar, while Hunt remains unsigned. Hunt has spoken to the Colts, Saints and Vikings but has not signed anywhere. Considering his experience in Stefanski’s system, a signing would not exactly be off the radar.

But Cleveland used Jerome Ford as Chubb’s primary backup in Pittsburgh. Ford totaled 106 yards on 16 carries. The Browns also obtained Pierre Strong via trade from the Patriots in August. An Alabama signee who transferred to Cincinnati, Ford posted a 1,300-yard season to help the Bearcats become the first Group of Five team to advance to the College Football Playoff in 2021. Last season, the Browns gave the fifth-round rookie only 15 carries. Upon letting Hunt’s contract expire, the Browns eyed a bigger role for Ford this season.

Ford, who clocked a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the 2022 Combine, should be expected to lead the way for a Browns team that has also lost veteran right tackle starter Jack Conklin. The former top-10 pick suffered ACL and MCL tears in Week 1. Attached to a $10.85MM base salary this season, Chubb is due an $11.78MM payout in 2024. This season, however, features the last of the guarantees in Chubb’s contract.

Browns, Kareem Hunt Agree To Terms

September 20th, 2023 at 9:52am CST by Sam Robinson

9:52am: A deal is in place, Cabot reports. The Browns are bringing Hunt back on a one-year contract worth up to $4MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Hunt, who spent the past four seasons with his hometown team, will be asked to help fill the void Chubb’s injury has created.

9:12am: Kareem Hunt‘s six-month stay in free agency may be winding down. Nick Chubb‘s gruesome injury led to the Browns surveying options, and after they brought their former 1-B back in for a visit, a deal appears close.

The Browns and Hunt are moving toward an agreement, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. A deal is expected to come together today. This would take one of the highest-profile free agents off the market and give the Browns an accomplished back who has extensive experience in Kevin Stefanski‘s system. The parties have not crossed the goal line on this deal yet, but NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicates it should be done by the Browns’ Wednesday practice.

Cleveland has looked into Cam Akers, who looks to again be on the outs in Los Angeles, and Trey Sermon. But the latter signed with Indianapolis’ practice squad Tuesday. Hunt, 28, has always represented the simplest solution. The Browns gave the former Chiefs draftee a second chance via a 2019 agreement, after Hunt was caught on video assaulting a woman at a Cleveland hotel in 2018, and used him frequently as an overqualified Chubb backup. Hunt signed a two-year, $12MM extension in 2020 and played a key role in the Browns ended a near-two-decade playoff drought that season.

Of course, Hunt’s past two seasons have not gone as planned. Multiple injuries slowed him in 2021, an eight-game season for the former rushing champion, and he did not re-establish quality form last year. Hunt averaged 3.8 yards per carry — by far a career-low mark — and ranked miles behind Chubb in Next Gen Stats’ rushing yards over expected metric, with the starter at an NFL-best 284 and backup at minus-10. The Browns still prioritized Hunt at multiple junctures last year, refusing to accommodate a summer trade request and then hanging onto him at the deadline. But the team was prepared to move on this offseason, building its backfield around Chubb and 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford.

With Cleveland previously intending to let Hunt walk, the six-year veteran lingered in free agency and was not closely tied to any team until training camp. But Hunt has been busy over the past several weeks. He has visited the Vikings, Saints and Colts. Late last week, the Colts were still in discussions with the former Chiefs third-rounder. But it appears the Browns are willing to offer a better deal in this emergency circumstance. The team did not make Hunt an offer this offseason, per Cabot, who adds Hunt is down around 10 pounds from his 2022 playing weight. The Browns are hoping Hunt’s weight loss helps him excel in the passing-down role he held for years.

Chubb came into 2023 having never missed more than four games in an NFL season, but the perennial Pro Bowler is believed to have suffered multiple ligament tears early in the Browns’ Week 2 loss in Pittsburgh. Multiple surgeries may be necessary, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson tweets, potentially clouding Chubb’s comeback attempt. Internal discussions have pointed to a surgery occurring before month’s end and another to take place weeks later, per Anderson, who adds Chubb is also believed to have sustained meniscus damage. This marks the second time Chubb sustained a major left knee injury. The 27-year-old star battled back after suffering multiple ligament tears while at Georgia in 2015.

The Browns, who have Chubb signed through 2024, turned to Ford as his primary replacement. Buoyed by a 69-yard run in the second half of the narrow defeat, Ford totaled 16 carries for 106 yards Monday night. While the Browns had a bigger role in mind for the ex-Cincinnati and Alabama performer this season, he played behind Chubb and Hunt as a rookie and finished Week 1 with 36 yards on 15 carries.

A Ford-Hunt backfield setup will provide some insurance for the Browns, and with Stefanski’s seat warming, it is unsurprising the team did not want to rely solely on a “next man up” process. Hunt expressed dissatisfaction with his contract last year, but his 2022 showing and the events of this offseason at the position did not give him much leverage. It appears the Willoughby, Ohio, native will end up back in Cleveland on a lower-cost deal soon.

Latest On RB Coalition

July 23rd, 2023 at 9:55pm CST by Ely Allen

Last night, a group of the NFL’s veteran running backs got together on a Zoom call organized by Chargers rusher Austin Ekeler. There was a reportedly strong turnout of NFL-talent for a meeting that ultimately gained little ground. Mike Florio of NBC Sports was able to provide some details on what transpired during the meeting.

According to Florio, despite some of the league’s best backs being in attendance, little progress was made towards a solution. The league’s current collective bargaining agreement is in place through 2030, and it doesn’t provide the running backs much leeway in their options. The NFL Players Association, which was not a part of the conversation last night, can’t necessarily contribute much to the conversation as, due to the nature of a league with a salary cap, giving money to running backs necessitates that money be taken from other positions.

That didn’t stop NFLPA president JC Tretter from suggesting in an interview that running backs could simply stage hold-ins by embellishing, exaggerating, or simply fabricating injuries. That suggestion was brought up on the call but quickly dismissed as it would feed “into the narrative that (running backs are) prone to injury.” It would also provide backs further down the depth chart an opportunity to prove they’re a better roster value than they’re more “injury-prone” counterparts.

Other ideas that could help the group include the use of the league’s Performance-Based Pay Pool to supplement running back income, shortening the position’s track to a second contract, or making adjustments to the franchise tag formula. Performance-Based Pay would reward the league’s top backs whose production exceeds their meager contracts. Shortening rookie contracts for running backs is a complicated solution that would likely require the NFLPA to negotiate on behalf of the running backs, which, again, can take away from other positions represented by the Association.

The franchise tag formula provides two possible solutions. The first would see the formula modified to simply increase the value of running back tags. The normal calculation would be increased to make tagging rushers a bit more costly of an option and force teams to explore second contracts with more dedication. The second solution is actually a bit of an extension on the first, suggesting a source for that increase. Currently, all offensive linemen’s franchise tag amounts are based on the contracts of tackles (the highest earning members of their position group). For this reason, interior linemen often don’t get tagged because they would be paid a tackle’s rate. If the league were to break up the offensive line into three categories (tackles, guards, centers), the interior linemen would no longer be receiving tackle-money, providing some wiggle room for running backs.

One of the players who attended the call was Browns running back Nick Chubb, who spoke to the media about the discussion, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN. Chubb confirmed that such elite athletes as Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, and Saquon Barkley all attended and contributed to the conversation.

Chubb also elaborated on the feeling of being handcuffed in terms of what action can be taken. He expanded on a common complaint that running back is the only position whose production hurts them. If they go out and rush for 2,000 yards, instead of being rewarded, they are assumed to be worn down. Chubb is a year away from a contract year himself, but he fully recognizes that he could find himself in this situation during the next offseason.

Regardless, right now, without the help of the NFLPA, there isn’t much for running backs to do. Some backs pointed out that their own agents have contributed to the problem (agents were not on the call). Often, agents will backload ridiculous numbers into a contract that inflate the annual average value (AAV) to amounts that a running back will never see.

Saints rusher Alvin Kamara‘s contract is a perfect example. With an AAV of $15MM, Kamara has only seen that much money in the first year of his deal, when he received a $15MM signing bonus. In 2021, he only received $2MM cash and, for the three subsequent years, he earned/will earn between $11MM and $11.80MM cash. These numbers are all so much lower than the AAV because, in the final year of the contract, Kamara is set to receive $25MM cash. The chances of Kamara reaching that final, big payout are extremely low, but that amount made what was really a $10MM per year contract much more palatable.

The running backs need to ensure that their agents are on the same page about whatever strategies they decide to implement. Florio wisely points out that, while teams are not allowed to collude in regard to negotiating strategies, players and their agents absolutely have the right to collaborate.

Baker Mayfield Not Expected To Miss Time

November 17th, 2021 at 1:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Already battling a fractured shoulder, Baker Mayfield left Sunday’s game in New England with a knee injury. The Browns are not likely to need another Case Keenum fill-in start, however.

Neither Mayfield nor Kevin Stefanski expect a second missed start, though the fourth-year quarterback said (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, on Twitter) this is probably the most beat up he has been in his football career. Mayfield is not practicing Wednesday.

Mayfield escaped his latest injury without structural damage, suffering a knee contusion in the Browns’ loss to the Patriots. Mayfield’s shoulder issue did require one missed game, a narrow Week 7 win over the Broncos, but he has otherwise played through that issue — one that will almost certainly require offseason surgery. The Browns face the 0-8-1 Lions in Week 11.

As for Mayfield’s backfield, Nick Chubb remains on the Browns’ reserve/COVID-19 list. The Pro Bowl back is vaccinated and can return by submitting negative tests two days apart. Stefanski added Kareem Hunt will not return in Week 11, despite being eligible to do so. The fifth-year back has missed four games with his calf injury but is moving closer to returning. Demetric Felton also remains on Cleveland’s COVID list. The Browns activated running back John Kelly from their virus list.

The Browns have played without both Chubb and Hunt twice this season. D’Ernest Johnson was the last man standing in both games, and the ex-Alliance of American Football performer would start against the Lions if Chubb is not activated by Saturday afternoon. In his third Browns season, Johnson is averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/9/21

November 9th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Browns Rule Out Nick Chubb For Week 6

October 15th, 2021 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

One half of the NFL’s top rushing duo will miss Week 6. The Browns have ruled out Nick Chubb for their key interconference Cardinals matchup due to a calf injury.

Chubb’s ailment kept him out of practice all week. Listed on Cleveland’s injury report with knee and wrist issues, Kareem Hunt missed two practices but went through Friday’s workout in a limited capacity. Hunt is questionable to play Sunday.

Both Chubb and Hunt rank in the top 10 in rushing through five games. Chubb operates as the Browns’ starter, however, and his 523 rushing yards trail only Derrick Henry this season. Chubb amassed a season-high 161 yards in the Browns’ 47-42 loss to the Chargers but came into this week with the calf malady.

During his four-year career, Chubb has only missed one previous stretch — due to the MCL sprain he suffered midway through last season. He returned from that four-game absence to make a second straight Pro Bowl and power the Browns to their first playoff berth since 2002. Chubb signed a three-year, $36.6MM extension this summer.

The Browns have listed several starters — including Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Jedrick Wills — as questionable. Neither Wills nor right tackle Jack Conklin practiced Friday, putting them in jeopardy of missing Sunday’s game. Wills missed Cleveland’s shootout loss with an ankle injury, while Conklin left the game with a knee issue.

Luckily, Chubb is not expected to go on IR, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter). In fact, head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated that Chubb could be back on the field for Cleveland’s Thursday night matchup against the Broncos.

Contract Details: Chubb, Thomas, Allen, Wilson

August 1st, 2021 at 6:42pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Let’s catch up on the details of some of the big contracts recently signed around the NFL:

  • We heard last night that Browns running back Nick Chubb was signing a big three-year extension worth $36MM with $20MM guaranteed. We’ve got the full equation now, thanks to what a league source told Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com. For starters, Chubb is getting a $12MM signing bonus. It also turns out that not *quite* $20MM is fully guaranteed. The actual guarantee is only $17.133MM. However, it’s almost effectively $20MM, since the other $2.87MM in guarantees vests in 2022 and it’s incredibly unlikely Chubb would be off the roster by then. Chubb will have low salaries and low cap hits in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, he’ll have a cap hit of $14.85MM. He’ll have a $10.85MM salary but only the $2.87MM of that will be guaranteed. In 2024, he’ll have a non-guaranteed salary of $11.775MM and a cap hit of $16.2MM for his final year.
  • Washington just made Logan Thomas the seventh highest-paid tight end in the game, and now we have new figures on his deal. His three-year, $24MM extension will give him a cap hit of $6.465MM in 2022, $8.75MM in 2023, and $8.315MM in 2024, John Keim of EPSN.com reports. The dead cap hits for those three years will be $7.465MM, $3.5MM, and $1.75MM respectively. In other words it won’t be too hard for the team to get out of the contract after 2022 if they wanted to. Thomas will receive a $300K roster bonus each season, and is due a $500K roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2024 league year, so that will be an important date in the final season of his new pact.
  • Thomas wasn’t the only player to get an extension from Washington this past week. The Football Team also gave defensive tackle Jonathan Allen a big four-year, $72MM deal. We didn’t previously know the full guaranteed amount, but it’s apparently $35.6MM. Allen’s cap hits for those four new seasons will be $9.5MM, $21.5MM, $21.5MM, and $23MM, Keim writes. As such, he won’t start really weighing down Washington’s books until 2023. He has a $14MM salary for that season which becomes guaranteed on the third day of that league year. His dead cap charges will be $26MM, $18MM, $12MM, $6MM for 2022-2025.
  • Zach Wilson and the Jets avoided potential disaster by agreeing to terms on his rookie deal right before training camp started, and now we have more context on the holdup. We knew there was an issue about potential signing bonus money deferment, and it turns out New York wanted the rookie quarterback to wait to get a significant amount of cash. The Jets “only opened negotiations last week,” and wanted Wilson to defer a whopping $6MM of his signing bonus to 2022, a source told Jeff Howe of The Athletic (Twitter link). After the team relented and agreed to pay the whole signing bonus upfront, Wilson hopped on a plane to New York. In return, the Jets did get some of the offset language they were seeking.

Browns, Nick Chubb Agree On $36MM Extension

July 31st, 2021 at 5:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve heard a lot about a potential Nick Chubb extension this offseason, and now it’s officially happening. The Browns and the running back have agreed to terms on an extension, a source told Mike Jones of USA Today (Twitter link).

Jones said four years, but it’s actually a three-year extension worth $36MM with $20MM guaranteed, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson was first to tweet that a deal was close. It had always been up in the air whether something would get done before the season started, but they managed to get it done with plenty of time to spare.

As a second-round pick in 2018, Chubb was previously set to enter the final year of his rookie deal. He’s been one of the best running backs in the NFL since entering the league, and has made the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons.

The Georgia product led the league in rushing in 2019 and led the league in rushing touchdowns last year with 12 despite playing only 12 games. Impressively, Chubb has averaged at least five yards per carry in each of his three pro seasons.

Chubb is now one of the league’s highest-paid running backs, and he should have at least another opportunity to break the bank. As a result of this relatively short-term deal, Chubb will get to re-enter free agency in the spring of 2025 when he’ll still only be 29.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski loves to run the ball, and he wasn’t about to let the engine of his offense go anywhere. The deal will keep Chubb tied to the Browns through the 2024 campaign. Cleveland also has Kareem Hunt in their backfield, but that didn’t appear to make them at all hesitant about paying Chubb.

Extension Candidate: Nick Chubb

July 12th, 2021 at 7:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

The past year and change reset the NFL’s running back market. After the previous wave of big-ticket contracts produced shaky outcomes — in the cases of Le’Veon Bell, Todd Gurley and David Johnson — a few teams still prioritized their high-end backs and went ahead with extensions.

The 2017 draft class was responsible for most of these accords. Ezekiel Elliott and Derrick Henry are attached to high-value running back deals, but 2017 draftees Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon and Aaron Jones all signed for at least $12MM per year since March 2020. The 2018 draft class is now eligible for extensions, and another backfield mainstay is on track to join the 2017 contingent near the running back salary hierarchy.

Nick Chubb has become the centerpiece of a run-oriented Browns offense that rode its two-pronged ground attack to the playoffs. After playing an essential role in snapping the Browns’ postseason drought, Chubb joins Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward and guard Wyatt Teller as extension candidates for a rising Cleveland team. With Mayfield and Ward signed through 2022, Chubb may be the team’s top contract priority ahead of the 2021 season.

Negotiations have begun, and a deal being finalized before the start of the season — thus protecting Chubb from a value-changing injury in his contract year — is in play. The Georgia product has become the most reliable back from the 2018 class. While Saquon Barkley may have this group’s highest ceiling, he is coming off ACL and MCL tears. Like Barkley in 2019, Chubb suffered a high ankle sprain. But he returned after four missed games to clear 1,000 yards (1,067) in just 12 contests. The 25-year-old back rushed for a career-high 12 touchdowns and joined Mayfield in leading the Browns to their first divisional-round game since 1994.

The two-time Pro Bowler has proven to be an elite ball carrier, but unlike the 2017 backs given extensions at or north of the $12MM-per-year mark, Chubb is not a major passing-game factor. He has yet to top 300 receiving yards in a season, with the Browns slotting Kareem Hunt as their preferred outlet option among these two. Hunt’s presence complicates Cleveland’s setup here — but only to a point. The Browns signed the embattled ex-Chief to an extension, but the two-year, $13.25MM pact represents midlevel money. Hunt is signed through 2022, but his $6.25MM cap number is both manageable and non-guaranteed. This seemingly keeps a Chubb extension realistic.

Chubb is the leader of Cleveland’s historically talented backfield, outrushing Hunt 1,067-841 last season despite the latter receiving more carries (198-190) during the starter’s injury-shortened season. Although Hunt is a Cleveland-area native, a scenario in which he moves on for a higher-paying RB1 gig elsewhere by 2023 may be likely — unless he is willing to accept a discount to stay a backup.

Henry’s four-year, $50MM deal ($25.5MM guaranteed) profiles a likely Hunt starting point. The Titans also use a run-centric offense, and Henry does not factor into their passing attack much. Chubb (44 career catches at Georgia) has never played a major receiving role, which could keep him off the McCaffrey-Kamara tier (north of $15MM AAV). Then again, the salary cap is set to balloon to nearly $210MM in 2022, perhaps giving Chubb a ladder up to the CMC-Kamara level. Also working in Chubb’s favor: his 680 career carries through three seasons ranks 56th all time and 22nd among backs whose careers started in the 21st century. He should have enough tread on his tires to be productive for the next few seasons.

While the Browns will certainly need to be careful here, the Rams and Jets’ Gurley and Bell missteps are not exactly comparable. Gurley entered the NFL with a knee issue, while Bell had more than 1,200 carries at the time of his free agency pact. Elliott was at 1,003 touches through three years; Chubb exited Year 3 with 752. Hunt staying through 2022 would also stand to shield Chubb from a Bell- or Elliott-like workload.

Either way, it sounds like the Browns will become the rare team with two well-paid backs on their roster soon. A Chubb extension will help establish a Barkley floor as well, should the Giants standout return to full strength this season, while providing the Browns with their most stable long-term backfield situation in decades. Cleveland missed on Trent Richardson, though the franchise did collect a first-rounder for him, and let Isaiah Crowell walk after his rookie deal expired. Chubb certainly appears set for a different northeast Ohio path.

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