Nick

Chubb

With this designation, Chubb will be required to miss at least the first four games of the season. The veteran running back is continuing to work his way back from a devastating knee injury he suffered in Week 2 of last season and didn’t participate in training camp practices or the preseason. Given the nature of the injury, it wouldn’t be surprising if Chubb missed more than the requisite four games, but for now, it will be Jerome Ford handling the bulk of the carries in Cleveland’s backfield. Last season, Ford rushed for 204-813-4 while adding another 44-319-5 through the air. He finished as the RB25 in fantasy points per game and should make for a nice value in half and full-PPR formats.

The Browns placed Chubb on the active/PUP list to start training camp, along with Nyheim Hines. Chubb’s 2023 season ended in Week 2 with a horrific knee injury that required two offseason surgeries. There is no timeline for Chubb’s return, and he would seem to be a candidate for the season-opening PUP list, meaning he would miss at least the first four games of the season. While Jerome Ford is widely expected to function as Cleveland’s lead back while Chubb is sidelined, Jackson said Ford is “probably not as a 20-carry-a-game type of player” and that he’ll share the backfield with some combination of D’Onta Foreman and Hines.

Fellow running back Nyheim Hines was placed on the active/NFI list with a knee issue of his own. Chubb is still working his way back from the devastating knee injury he suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 season. He can be removed from the PUP list at any time during training camp. If he remains on the PUP at the end of camp, the Browns will move him to reserve/PUP and he will be required to miss at least four games. The Browns have Jerome Ford and free agent addition D’Onta Foreman available to fill Chubb’s role at the start of the season. Ford should get the starting nod in Week 1, though Chubb’s eventual return could make him a non-factor midway through the fantasy season.

Chubb can be activated at any time, but there has been nothing concrete on his potential Week 1 availability. Chubb has been sidelined since last September. Chubb reportedly resumed running in April, and GM Andrew Berry said he was “progressing nicely” in early May. Note there is no “ahead of schedule” there. Chubb can be considered genuinely uncertain and a candidate for reserve/PUP until the team issues something more substantial on his progress.

Berry also noted that Chubb “still has a long way to go.” Chubb continues to work his way back from a brutal knee injury he suffered in Week 2 against the Steelers. The Browns didn’t address running back in the draft but did add veterans D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines earlier this offseason. Reports on Chubb have often been good, with the last coming a few weeks ago when the team announced he had resumed running. Whether or not Chubb is ready for training camp is to be determined, but all signs continue to point in the right direction.

As Berry stated, Chubb running is “not to say that he’s through the woods or anything, but he’s doing everything in his power [to return].” Everything remains wait-and-see with Chubb, who suffered a devastating knee injury in last season’s Week 2 contest against the Steelers. It was the second time Chubb was dealt a serious injury to that knee, with the previous injury coming during his college days at Georgia. Berry said Chubb has attacked his rehab “very aggressively,” but we likely won’t know much about his early-season availability until we get closer to training camp.

Chubb suffered a pretty brutal knee injury in Week 2 of the 2023 season and has now undergone two major knee surgeries during his career. At 28 years old, there is no guarantee he will come back to the same level we’ve come to know from him. “I can promise you he’s working very hard,” said Stefanski. “I don’t know that we’ll go past today and this week. At least that’s the way I’m looking at it...When he’s ready, he’ll be ready.”

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Browns lowered Chubb’s base salary of $11.775 million and are giving him the chance to earn that money back in incentives. Still working his way back from a devastating knee injury that he suffered in Week 2 of last season, Chubb, 28, could face an uphill battle to get back to the player he once was. He’s now dealt with two major knee injuries in his career — the other coming during his college career — and is on the wrong side of the running back age curve. Despite his injury, the Browns made it clear they wanted Chubb to remain with the team in 2024, but only at a new price both sides deemed acceptable.

Coming off the heels of a productive season in Carolina, Foreman signed a one-year deal with the Bears last offseason. Chicago then drafted Roschon Johnson and didn’t seem to have much interest in playing Foreman. The veteran back was a healthy scratch early in the season, saw some midseason run because of injuries ahead of him on the depth chart, and then closed the year as a healthy scratch once again. He totaled 425 yards and four scores on 109 attempts. A powerful runner who is hard to bring down on first contact, Foreman makes sense as a bargain bin stand-in for Nick Chubb, who is currently recovering from a season-ending knee injury. Coming off multiple surgeries to repair knee damage including a torn ACL, it’s unclear when Chubb will be able to play again. Foreman will likely split the Cleveland backfield with Jerome Ford until Chubb is back in action.

Chubb suffered a devastating knee injury in Week 2 against the Steelers and has spent the last several months rehabbing from his injury. Already under contract through 2024, the veteran running back is set to earn more than $15 million next season, but can be cut for a mere $4 million in dead cap. Berry said Chubb has been impressive in his rehab and that “nobody” wants that Week 2 game to be the last time Chubb touches the ball as a Brown. The Browns have some cap issues to sort out in 2024, and Chubb’s contract is undoubtedly a part of the problem, but it sounds like the team is committed to keeping him around next season.