CLEVELAND, Ohio — Much to the dismay of his adoring Browns fans, All-Pro running back Nick Chubb signed a one-year contract with the Texans on Monday after passing his physical.
It’s worth $2.5 million, with incentives worth up tp $5 million.
It means that Chubb, the Browns’ second-round pick in 2018 out of Georgia, with wear a new uniform for the first time after seven seasons with the Browns.
It doesn’t mean that Chubb won’t ever end up back in Cleveland someday or even retire as a Brown, but for now, he’ll try to help the Texans and their quarterback C.J. Stroud return to the playoffs for the third straight season.
Ironically, Chubb heads to the team that is still benefitting from its blockbuster 2022 trade with the Browns in which Houston sent quarterback Deshaun Watson to Cleveland in exchange for a net of five picks, including three first rounders. The Browns have made the playoffs once since the trade, losing to Houston 45-14 in the wild card round after the 2023 season.
The Texans have made the playoffs twice since then, losing both times in the divisional round.
Chubb, who underwent two surgeries in 2023 to repair his extensive damage in his left knee, will join former Bengals stalwart Joe Mixon in the Texans’ backfield, two backs who dominated for their AFC North teams for seven seasons before heading south.
Mixon, traded from the Bengals to the Texans in March, rushed for 1,016 yards and 11 TDs last season in helping the Texans to a 10-7 record and an AFC South crown. They beat the Chargers in the wild card round and lost to the Super Bowl runner-up Chiefs in the divisional round.
The Browns contemplated bringing Chubb, a four-time Pro Bowler, back this season, but he became expendable when Jerome Ford took about a 50% paycut to a guaranteed $1.75 million to remain with the team. That followed the Browns drafting running backs Quinshon Judskins out of Ohio State at No. 36 in the second round, and Dylan Sampson out of Tennessee at No. 126 in the fourth round.
Former Browns Director of Player Personnel Dan Saganey likened Judkins and Sampson and Chubb and Kareem Hunt in their prime.
“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.”
The writing was on the wall for Chubb during GM Andrew Berry’s season-ending press conference when he indicated Chubb might not be back.
“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. “It’s always a challenging situation when one of your cornerstone players, their contract is up. 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. 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.”
It was a dramatic departure from the year before, when Berry vowed not to let Chubb’s season-ending knee surgery in Pittsburgh in Week 2 be his last play as a Brown.
He made good on that promise, restructuring Chubb’s contract to protect the club but also give Chubb a chance to make back his full contract with incentives.
“I probably came into this year let’s say on a scale of one to 10 in terms of respect for Nick Chubb, it was a 10 and probably coming out of this year, it’s now a 20,” Berry said in January. “You would’ve never guessed that Nick was out for the season with how he operated within the building. I mean it was like he was doing two-a-day practices for rehab ... the tenacity at which he has attacked his rehab and he did everything in his power this year to heal himself but also make a positive impact with the team.
“It culminated — he’s not like a super talkative person — but for him to do the whole Batman thing in front of the Jets game, it’s like he wanted to do everything in his power to help the team win. In terms of Nick moving forward, obviously I understand that’s a little bit the elephant in the room. Nick, I can say for myself, no one in the organization, I understand our family, nobody wants to see that carry in Pittsburgh be the last time he carries the ball for the Cleveland Browns. And obviously there are things that we’ll have to work through, but that would not be our intention as well. We obviously will work to keep him on the team.”
Berry re-iterated that sentiment at the NFL combine in Indianapolis in late February, and again at the NFL annual meetings two weeks ago in Orlando. It’s the final year of a three-year, $36.6 million extension Chubb signed in July 2021, with $20 million guaranteed.
“Maybe the easiest thing is we fully expect Nick to be here and he’s doing a great job with his recovery and everything,” [Berry said at the meetings.](https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2024/03/the-big-step-nick-chubb-is-ready-to-take-and-his-chances-of-starting-the-season-mary-kay-cabot.html) “And I meant what I said at the end of the season, I meant what I said at the combine. We do not want the injury in Pittsburgh to be his last snap as a Cleveland Brown.”
_This post will be updated._
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