NFL Trade Rumors
The legendary Nick Chubb is still looking for his next NFL home. Originally a second-round pick by the Browns back in 2018, he quickly established himself as one of the best running backs in the league. As a rookie, he was just four yards short of hitting 1,000, and from 2019-2022, he was over 1,000 rushing yards each season, twice nearing or exceeding the 1,500-yard mark.
But a devastatingly gruesome knee injury in the second game of the 2023 season altered his career forever. Chubb tore his left MCL and also damaged his meniscus and medial capsule in one of the most horrifying football injuries I’ve ever seen live. Needless to say, he missed the remainder of the season, returning midway through 2024 at a fraction of his former effectiveness.
Across his first six seasons, Chubb’s worst yards per carry average was 5.0. But in 2024, that dropped to 3.3, as his burst and explosiveness were clearly sapped by the knee injury he’d suffered the year prior.
In 2025, the Browns chose to go in a different direction with a youth movement and Chubb landed with the Texans. Though he still wasn’t back to his former self, he was reasonably effective, rushing for 506 yards at 4.1 yards per attempt. He wasn’t the every-down difference-maker he’d been at his peak, but he was a competent short-yardage back who still showed flashes of his early-career greatness.
I don’t know how much more Chubb has left in the tank, but at worst, he can probably reasonably approximate what he did in Houston last season. His best days are clearly behind him, but he’s still effective in short-yardage and goal-line situations and he can grind out tough yards between the tackles. It’ll probably be a one-year deal for close to the veteran minimum, but there’s likely a job out there for him if he wants one.
Chubb, 30, was drafted by the Browns in the second round out of Georgia in 2018. He was entering the final year of a four-year, $7,383,094 contract when Cleveland signed him to a three-year, $36 million extension back in 2021.
The Browns restructured Chubb’s contract last April, lowering his cap hit in 2024 from $15.85 million to $6.275 million. He played out the rest of that deal and was testing the open market for the first time in his career in 2025 when he signed a one-year deal with the Texans.
In 2025, Chubb appeared in 15 games for the Texans and rushed for 506 yards on 122 carries (4.1 YPC) to go along with three touchdowns.
We have him included in our Top 100 Available 2026 Free Agents list.
The Packers should be kicking the tires on all the veteran backs they can. Do-it-all RB Josh Jacobs was arrested on serious domestic violence charges in May, including a felony strangulation/suffocation charge. Jacobs maintains his innocence and has been released from jail as the investigation is ongoing — and no formal charges...
