Browns open practice window for four-time Pro Bowler

Once that happens, the Browns will have three weeks to activate Chubb. If they don’t do so within that time frame, the four-time Pro Bowler will have to miss the entire season. Although Rapoport warns that Chubb likely won’t return to action in Week 5, the fact that Cleveland is putting him on the practice field obviously means the club expects him to be ready to play shortly.

His presence will be very welcome. Through the first three weeks of the campaign, the Browns ranked 31st in total offense and ranked in the bottom ten in rushing yards per game. Their ground attack is currently controlled by Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman, and while Ford has performed well (5.0 yards per carry on 29 totes), Foreman has struggled, and Chubb is one of the game’s best defenders when he is healthy.

Unfortunately, a serious knee injury suffered in Week 2 of the 2023 season threatened not only Chubb’s future in Cleveland, but his entire playing career. His injury required two surgeries and he opened training camp on the PUP list. Unsurprisingly, he remained on the list despite the final roster cuts that resulted in him having to miss the first four games of the season.

Player and team agreed to a revised contract this offseason, and although Chubb accepted a pay cut as part of the restructuring, he only had to be on the active roster for 12 games to receive a $225,000 roster bonus (incentives that allowed him to made it possible to recover part of it). the money originally owed to him is also there). Between that and the fact that Cleveland opens Chubb’s practice window in the next few days, it appears a Week 6 return is in play.

Chubb’s revised contract did not include additional years of club control, so he will still be a free agent at the end of the season. Needless to say, a return to his previous stellar form – he has a career average of 5.3 YPC with 1,238 runs – would be a huge boon to his future earning power and to the Browns’ fortunes in 2024.