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Andrew Berry: Browns to 'work through' decisions around re-signing free agent Nick Chubb
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- Andrew Berry: Browns to 'work through' decisions around re-signing free agent Nick Chubb
BEREA — Andrew Berry could not have been more definitive in 2023 when the Browns general manager talked about running back Nick Chubb 's future with the team. He reiterated several times after Chubb's season-ending knee injury that "nobody wants to see that carry in Pittsburgh be the last time he carries the ball for the Cleveland Browns ."
Berry was asked Monday, two days after the Browns wrapped up their 2024 season, about Chubb's future with the team. The running back will be a free agent this offseason, but will be coming off a season in which he was limited to just eight games because of the 2023 knee injury and a broken foot suffered in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 that ended his comeback season.
Browns running back Nick Chubb carries the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs, Dec. 15, 2024, in Cleveland.
"I want to start by saying I think everybody in this room knows how much respect that we have for Nick and how much appreciation we have for not just like his exploits on the field, but who he is in the locker room and who he is as a person," Berry said. "… 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."
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There are a couple of difference this time around. The biggest is Chubb's contract status.
A year ago, Chubb was going into the final year of a three-year extension. The question then was if the Browns would take the cold-blooded business approach to the four-time Pro Bowl running back because of the lack of any guaranteed money remaining.
There is no contract between the Browns and Chubb coming out of this season. That makes it a two-way decision.
"It's always a challenging situation when one of your cornerstone players, their contract is up," Berry said. "That's probably maybe a little bit the 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."
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The other is that Chubb's last carry wasn't the one with 14:14 remaining in the second quarter of the 2023 Week 2 game at Pittsburgh when his left knee was rolled into by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick while his leg was still planted at the end of a 5-yard run.
After two surgeries to repair the knee, Chubb made his return in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals , the same game in which quarterback Deshaun Watson sustained a season-ending Achilles injury.
Chubb finished the season two shy of the team lead in rushing attempts with 102, even though he essentially only played in seven-and-a-half games. He was second on the team in rushing with 332 yards, while tying Jerome Ford with three touchdown runs.
If the foot injury ended Chubb's Cleveland Browns career, he would depart in hallowed territory. He would finish it as the No. 3 all-time rusher behind Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly with 6,843 yards, as well as third behind them in rushing touchdowns with 51.
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Only Brown's 104.3 yards-per-game average in 118 career games was higher than Chubb's 80.5 in franchise history. As for a player beloved by the fans and teammates, no one in the post-1999 expansion era may come close to him.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Andrew Berry non-committal about Nick Chubb's Browns future
