The Cleveland Browns‘ season has been a comedy of errors, but there was nothing funny about what happened to running back Nick Chubb in Week 15.
Chubb left the contest against the Kansas City Chiefs in the third quarter due to a foot injury and was unable to return to the game. The full news, however, was considerably worse than that.
“Nick Chubb broke his foot,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said during his postgame press conference. “It’s tough.”
Chubb’s broken foot almost certainly means the end of his season, but it could also mean the end of his tenure in Cleveland after seven years with the franchise.
Jerome Ford Has Shown Ability to Replace Nick Chubb in Browns Offense
Chubb is in the final year of his contract with the Browns and heading into his age-30 season.
The running back was among the highest-paid players at the position in the NFL when he inked a three-year extension worth north of $36 million in July 2021. However, Chubb restructured that deal ahead of this season following a catastrophic knee injury he suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2 of the 2023 campaign.
Chubb agreed to convert most of his guaranteed money into an incentive-based package, dropping his guarantees to just over $2 million in 2024. After finishing the season with 102 carries for 332 rushing yards and 3 TDs on the ground as well as 5 catches for 31 yards and 1 score in eight games played, Chubb is going to miss out on most of the cash he gave back.
Meanwhile, Jerome Ford developed over a strong season last year and showed out again as Chubb’s replacement against Kansas City.
Ford, a third-year running back who will enter the final season of his rookie contract in 2025, posted 1,132 yards from scrimmage and 9 total TDs in 2023. He went for 84 yards and 1 TD on the ground and caught 2 passes for 20 yards against the Chiefs on Sunday.
Nick Chubb Must Rebuild Value With Healthy Season in 2025
Chubb isn’t likely to get a monster deal, or even a multiyear deal, from anyone in the league after suffering his second major injury in two years. As such, it is unlikely that the Browns will be the team to bite, as they are the only franchise that arguably owes the running back some benefit of the doubt based on past performance.
At his peak, Chubb was arguably the best running back in the league. He went over 1,000 yards on the ground in four straight campaigns and has gained more than 6,800 yards rushing in 84 career regular season games played. Chubb has also tallied 56 total touchdowns and caught 128 passes for over 1,000 yards.
Chubb has come back from horrible injuries before, including his knee surgeries in 2023 and a similarly bad knee issue during his college days at the University of Georgia. By comparison, a broken foot isn’t as serious.
However, Chubb’s injury history and his age are going to push his value down on the free agent market, which likely means a team change and a one-year prove-it deal for Chubb in 2025.
