The National Football League has become a pass-heavy league nowadays, so running backs have become somewhat expendable.
We’ve seen it happen with guys like DeMarco Murray, LeSean McCoy, Le’Veon Bell, and even more recently with Derrick Henry.
It doesn’t matter how much of a superstar you are; if you’re a running back, chances are that you’ll get shown the door once you get some miles under your belt.
However, that didn’t seem to be the case with Nick Chubb, who’s coming off the best season of his career and is just 27 years old.
But according to a report by Marc Sessler of Around the NFL, there have been some “whispers” about the Cleveland Browns looking to trade Chubb to clear their salary cap.
Little whispers the Browns could trade Nick Chubb to heal their cap.
Explain to me how this team has tangibly improved over the last year.
—Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) March 6, 2023
The Browns are currently $14 million over the cap, and they have until March 15 to solve that issue.
Moving on from Chubb would do precisely that, as his cap hit for 2023 is slightly over $14 million.
Also, Deshaun Watson is expected to be the focal point of the offense, meaning Chubb’s workload would take a hit anyway in 2023.
Then again, it’s not every day that a team decides to trade its best and most reliable offensive player, so this news really shook NFL Twitter to its core.
They leaned all in on a horrible person and this is what happens next. Wishing them nothing but failure.
— Mitchell Fink (@themitchellfink) March 6, 2023
It would be utterly stupid to trade, perhaps the second best back in Browns history. However, seeing the track record of this regime, I fully expect it to be traded.
—Jim Harold (@THEJimHarold) March 6, 2023
Deshaun will single-handedly carry them to the Super Bowl. He’s playing both ways. He’ll be the OC AND DC. He’s kicking off AND returning punts and kicks. They are changing the name of the team to the Cleveland Watsons. The new logo? It’s… elementary, Marc. pic.twitter.com/0WKtcJ0wyf
—Leonard Cohen’s Hat (@hallelujahrip) March 6, 2023
Bengals may need a RB.
— Jared Fesler (@jarapu) March 6, 2023
Explain to me how this team has intangible improved since 1999.
—Slug (@Slug59430148) March 7, 2023
Trading Chubb while there is still value makes sense. Especially since the offensive is trending towards being more of a pass heavy scheme. I think everyone likes Chubb but other positions will have a bigger impact towards the teams success in the long run.
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕭𝖎𝖗𝖉𝖞 (@Di2ty_Bi2dy) March 6, 2023
They will lose a TON of fans if they do. They would be smarter to trade Watson. There’s a lot of fans that don’t like him anyway. Why trade the Innocent BEST iconic player on your team?
— Craig da parody newspaper fan group wanna be (@FreedANDback) March 7, 2023
The Browns were reportedly looking to restructure Watson’s deal to help them with their salary cap situation, and some rumors stated that Myles Garrett and even Chubb could also consider that.
But this is a ruthless business, and sometimes teams make tough—and often wrong—decisions, especially those who aren’t exactly used to winning.
NEXT:
Chris Simms Gives His Honest Opinion About Deshaun Watson
