The Cleveland Browns have arguably the best running back in the league in Nick Chubb, but he suffered a gruesome knee injury in Week 2 of the 2023 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the severity of the injury and his sizable cap hit, there was some speculation as to whether he would be a cap casualty this offseason. It would appear he is sticking around, as Ian Rapoport reported on X that Chubb and the Browns agreed to a reworked contract.
Prior to injuring his knee, Chubb was already off to a great start last season. He had 18 carries for 106 yards in Week 1 and then ten carries for 64 yards in Week 2 before going down, injured in the middle of the second quarter.
The Browns offense works much better with Chubb around. If he can return to the same level of play, he will provide a large boost to Cleveland. They also just acquired WR Jerry Jeudy in a trade with the Denver Broncos this offseason, so they have more weapons to help complement the run game.
As reported by Rapoport, a part of the reworked deal is that Chubb will have a chance to earn back most of what he is giving up via incentives. The injury took place in Week 2, so it has now been six months since it occurred. The surgery took place near the end of September, so he still probably has three or four months of recovery ahead of him as a best-case scenario.
The Browns finished the 2023 season with an 11-6 record despite injuries to both Chubb and QB Deshaun Watson. It would have been a whole lot easier to sustain the Watson injury if Chubb was around, and they likely would have been in the mix to compete for a deep playoff run. Instead, they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Texans.
Jeremy Fowler is reporting on X that Chubb’s reworked deal lowers his cap hit from $15.85M to $6.275M and an opportunity to earn up to $12.2M in incentives.
