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Browns, Nick Chubb Agree To Re-Worked Contract For 2024
The Browns star running back is working his way back from a serious knee injury from Week 2 of last year.
It was considered an inevitability throughout much of the offseason. Now it's official.
The Browns and running back Nick Chubb came to terms on a re-worked contract Thursday. According to the NFL the new deal drops Chubb's 2024 base salary figure of $11.775 million significantly to free up cap space for the team, which also lowers his overall cap charge of $15.825 million in the process. Chubb has the ability to earn back the guaranteed money he's sacrificing in incentives.
Dec 17, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (24) runs the ball
Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
From the Browns standpoint, the agreement allows them to keep a fan favorite on the roster next season while also getting some additional cap flexibility. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the re-worked deal reduces Chubb's cap hit for next season to just $6.275 million. He'll have a chance to earn up to $12.2 million though if he hits similar statistical benchmarks that he did prior to the injury.
The modified deal is a best of both worlds scenario. With Chubb working his way back from a gruesome knee injury suffered in Week 2 of last season, he gets a chance to prove he can return to form as one of the totop running backs in the game. If he does he could force the franchise to consider rewarding him with another extension.
At the outset of the offseason there was some initial talk outside the organization that Chubb could end up being released outright because the cap savings were of nearly $12 million would be too good for the Browns to pass up. However, at his end of the season press conference Browns general manager Andrew Berry made it clear that the organization, like the fan base, didn't want Chubb's tenure with the franchise to end with him leaving the field on a cart in Pittsburgh.
This re-worked contract is a guarantee that he will be with the franchise in 2024. The status of his future in Cleveland beyond that though is an entirely different mystery.
Over the course of his six seasons with the Browns, Chubb has racked up 6,511 yards rushing and 48 touchdowns. He's come up short of 1,000 yards rushing only twice, in his rookie campaign and last year because of the knee injury. His physical running style and breakaway speed have produced plenty of highlight reel plays over the years for Cleveland and helped Chubb establish himself as one of the best backs in football. His 5.3 career yards per carry average ranks seventh all time, one spot ahead of franchise legend Jim Brown.
Still, overcoming a second serious knee injury – the first of which came during his college days at Georgia – is no easy feat. The 29-year-old will have an opportunity to defy the odds though and potentially reset his market ahead of next offseason.
In Chubb's absence this past fall, 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford was next man up in the backfield for Cleveland, sharing the tailback role with veteran Kareem Hunt who was signed after Chubb's unfortunate injury. Ford wound up producing 813 yards on 204 carries and scored four touchdowns. He added 44 receptions, along with another 319 yards and three touchdowns as a receiving threat.
It's unclear if the franchise views Ford as a long-term solution at the position. Berry has spent much of this offseason revamping the running back room behind Chubb and Ford. That group now includes veterans D'Onta Forman and Nyheim Hines, as well as Pierre Strong, who returns from 2023.
Berry also still has the draft at his disposal to potentially add some fresh blood to the position if he wishes. To this point the Browns have hosted one running back on a top 30 visit in Florida State's Trey Benson.
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