CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Dark Knight might be rising in Houston.
Former Browns running back Nick Chubb, who became expendable here when the Browns drafted two running back and Jerome Ford took a paycut, will visit the Texans on Monday and likely sign with them if he passes his physical, according to NFL Network.
He wanted to finish his career with the Browns, but it’s probaby not to be.
Chubb’s fate was sealed on May 2 when Ford took about a 50% paycut to $1.75 million the remain with the Browns after they drafted Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins at No. 33 overall, and Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson at No. 126 overall, thereby overhauling their 29th-ranked running game. They didn’t want to bring Chubb back as their fourth-running back, which he would’ve been with Ford still on the roster.
The Browns’ second-round pick in 2018 and a four-time Pro Bowler, Chubb, who’s alter-ego is Batman, has been working hard to come back even stronger this season from his devastating knee injury from 2023, and from his broken foot suffered late last season.
Throughout the spring, he’s posted video of his intense workouts, including clearing high hurdles in his high school gym in Georgia and squatting more than 500 pounds.
Before the NFL draft in April, he sent a strong message to the league that he wasn’t done, captioning a four-slide workout video with “they’ve already wrote my ending when I’m just getting started.”
Shortly thereafter, the Browns drafted Judkins and Sampson, whom they likened to the one-two punch of Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
“When you pair the two of them together, you have two fast guys that run hard, run with energy,” said former Browns Director of Player Personnel Dan Saganey, who left for the Titans after the draft. “Both guys are kind of what I would describe as like Energizer Bunny type of runners but also have power and three down value so they can help you in both phases. Both guys have really natural, vision, strength, acceleration, speed, everything that we look for in a ‘back in our system. So should pair well together.”
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that the Saints had also expressed interest. In Houston, he’ll be paired with his former Bengals foe Joe Mixon, the two-time Pro Bowler who was traded to Houston last March.
As for the Browns, GM Andrew Berry made no promises on draft weekend that the Browns would bring Chubb back.
“I’d say not necessarily (that the door is closed), but the complexion of our running back room has changed this weekend,” Berry said then. “And so, as we work through the undrafted free agency process, maybe take a breath on Sunday, we’ll reassess kind of where the roster is and what opportunities are available to us on the veteran market, and then we’ll operate from there.”
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