Nick Chubb Doesn’t Dismiss the Idea of Coming Back to the Browns

It’s pretty much understood that the Cleveland Browns-Nick Chubb affair was a very successful one, for the entirety of the seven years it lasted.

Could there be a Part II in the works?

Speaking this Thursday at the Sportsland Summit in Huntington Bank Field, in Cleveland, Chubb declined to slam the door on a potential return to the Browns.

During his panel at SportsLand today, former #Browns RB Nick Chubb was asked if a return to play in Cleveland has crossed his mind.

"You never know what can happen." pic.twitter.com/C7jpNuxHsJ
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) June 18, 2026

“Obviously Cleveland is a special place to me. Being drafted here, by Jim Brown. And then my time here was truly amazing.

“You never know what can happen.”

Chubb’s selection in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft was famously announced on-stage by Browns’ legend Jim Brown. Over the course of the next seven years, Chubb not only became a legit fan favorite in Cleveland, but also one of the NFL’s top running backs, stringing four consecutive +1,000-yard seasons from 2019 to 2022, all four of them recognized with Pro Bowl honors.

However, a gruesome knee injury suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 season -- one that Chubb had dedicated to Brown after his passing -- became the beginning of the end of the star running back’s tenure in Cleveland, as it required over a year of rehab following multiple surgeries.

After stepping back onto the field for the Browns again in 2024 almost at the midseason point, Chubb's comeback proved short-lived, as a foot fracture prevented him from appearing in the final four contests.

Chubb then spent the 2025 season with the Texans, where he appeared in 15 games including nine starts, and racked up 506 rushing yards and three scores on a one-year $2.5 million deal.

Currently a free agent, there could be room for Chubb -- who ranks third all-time on the team's career rushing yards list -- on Cleveland’s roster.

Could Nick Chubb earn a roster spot with the Browns?

Cleveland’s depth chart at running back is currently headlined by last year’s second-round pick Quinshon Judkins, who had an outstanding rookie season. After Judkins, Dylan Sampson -- a fourth-rounder from last year -- and Raheim Sanders complete the picture.

There’s no doubt Chubb could earn some significant carries behind Judkins, if the Browns were to consider having him back. Plus, adding some much needed locker room leadership on offense could be wise, especially after perennial Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio’s retirement.

And speaking of Bitonio, the team always maintained they were open to Bitonio coming back for another year during the months he took to make a final decision on his future. This, despite the fact that a return would have meant agreeing to a new contract on top of a $23.5 million dead cap charge already on the books for Cleveland due to void years on his previous deal.

Said head coach Todd Monken back in February: “I'm for really good football players and I'm for really good football players that are wired like Joel."

Is there any doubt regarding how Chubb is wired as a football player? We’re talking about a guy who has already come back from two catastrophic knee injuries, including one at Georgia back in 2015 and the aforementioned one while with Cleveland.

The Browns’ surely don’t need Chubb, specifically but they could use some additional depth at running back behind Judkins, who's coming off an injury of his own. So, why not Chubb?

After all, the fact that Chubb didn’t shoot down the notion of coming back to the Browns at the Sportsland event should be evidence enough that he has, at the very least, considered it.

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