The Cleveland Browns are likely nearing the end of an era with running back Nick Chubb, which means an upgrade could already be in the works.
Chubb suffered a broken foot last weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs that officially ended his season and could mark the last time he plays a snap in a Browns uniform. The seven-year veteran is in the last year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent in March if the two sides don’t agree to an extension before then.
Operating under the educated assumption that Chubb will be elsewhere in 2025, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic predicted in his latest mock draft on Wednesday, December 18, that the Browns will select star running back Asthon Jeanty out of Boise State in the first round of April’s NFL draft. If the league held the draft today, Cleveland would pick No. 7 overall.
“Nick Chubb’s foot injury won’t require surgery, Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski said, but the injury is just another in a lengthy line of health setbacks for the Browns’ star back,” Baumgardner wrote. ” Jeanty is the rare type of back — not unlike Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs — who can provide three-down value in multiple situations.”
Jeanty finished his team’s 13-game regular season with 2,497 rushing yards and 29 rushing TDs, which earned him second-place honors in the Heisman Trophy voting last weekend.
Browns Probably Don’t Make Sense for Nick Chubb Beyond Season, Vice Versa
Chubb’s most recent serious injury follows a blown out knee he suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 campaign. That issue required two surgeries to fix and kept the four-time Pro Bowler sidelined for more than 13 months before he made his next regular season appearance.
Cleveland asked Chubb to give back most of the guaranteed money on the final year of his contract in 2024 and convert it to bonus options in the form of incentives. Because he missed almost the entirety of the first half of the season due to rehabilitation and is now out again because of the broken foot, Chubb will leave most of that forfeited cash on the table.
There is a chance he could come back to the Browns next year, though the running back would likely have to agree to a small, one-year deal to do so. Chubb won’t get much better anywhere else in the league, but 2025 is going to be about rebuilding his value, and there are probably going to be better roster/salary cap situations outside of Cleveland in which he can do that.
Jerome Ford will step in for Chubb as the starter for the remainder of this season, and presumably next year as well in what will be the final campaign of his rookie contract.
That could change if the team drafts Jeanty or another quality back. In any case, Ford could also be on his way out of Cleveland a little over a year from now depending on what his market is in free agency and what the rest of the Browns’ position group looks like following the 2025 season.
Cleveland is also a candidate to draft a quarterback in April, as Deshaun Watson appears finished. His contract, however, will linger for several years and will have a huge impact in each of the next two seasons for sure — whether he plays at all or not.
As such, it makes sense for the Browns to try and find talent at value on a rookie contract under center, as there aren’t many other ways for them to compete. But this year’s draft class is weak at QB, which may lead to the franchise trying to solve that problem sometime on Day 2 of the draft.
