Browns running back Nick Chubb’s contract was an offseason talking point after he suffered a season-ending injury in 2023, so there was a familiar ring to General Manager Andrew Berry fielding questions about Chubb’s future after his latest health issue.
There’s also a couple of differences. Chubb broke his foot in Week 15, which was an unfortunate development but it doesn’t come with the same kind of extended rehab that he faced after a severe knee injury. The other difference is that Chubb is now out of contract rather than working to restructure the final year of his deal to reflect the uncertainties attached to that comeback.
Berry didn’t offer much of a signal about what direction the Browns will take, but said that they will finalize their approach with Chubb in the near future.
“I think everybody in this room knows how much respect we have for Nick and how much appreciation we have for not just his exploits on the field, but who he is in the locker room and who he is as a person,” Berry said, via the team’s website. “It’s always a challenging situation when one of your cornerstone players, their contract is up. That’s probably maybe a little bit of a different situation this year relative to last, where there is maybe perhaps a little bit less control on the club side with it. Those are all decisions that we do have to work through in the next several weeks. We love Nick. He’s going to be a Ring of Honor player for us. And we know that in terms of the short term that’s something that, quite honestly, we just have to work through over the next several weeks.”
Chubb has spent his entire seven-year career in Cleveland, but playing 10 games over two seasons forces a team to consider other options and the Browns could take a deeper dive in that direction if Chubb’s view of his next deal isn’t the same as theirs.
