John Dorsey’s 5 worst moves as Cleveland Browns general manager
4. Signing Chris Hubbard
Chris Hubbard came to the Browns in 2018, probably at the urging of highly regarded offensive coordinator Todd Haley who had coached him in PIttsburgh. Frankly the Steelers raved about him. Alejandro Villaneuva claimed he was the “most complete lineman in the NFL.” He played all five line positions at one time or another for the Steelers and even lined up at tight end sometimes. Accordingly, he was awarded a three year contract at $36.5 million dollars, with over $15 million in guarantees according to overthecap.com.
However, it has not worked out.
According to the Washington Post, Hubbard led Browns offensive linemen with 7.5 sacks allowed This year he has committed six penalties, one more than Chris Robinson. Pro Football Focus grades him 70th overall, which is roughly the level of a good NFL backup. However, the Browns were expecting much more.
Could it be that the Browns have him at the wrong position? It would not be the first time that the Browns played someone at the wrong position. Perhaps Hubbard could be switched to guard. At 6-foot-4 295, that is a little on the small side for a right tackle. In the NFL a median (50th percentile) right tackle is estimated to be 315 pounds. There’s very little to suggest that Hubbard’s natural position is right tackle. He became a right tackle because Marcus Gilbert was the right tackle for the Steelers and got injured, and Hubbard substituted for him.
If the guy looks like a right guard, maybe he in fact is a right guard. Perhaps when and if Kendall Lamm gets healthy, we might see Hubbard slide over to right guard and perhaps take his name off this list as a poor investment. Again, Hubbard did not doing anything wrong or misrepresent himself. John Dorsey made a major investment in him that simply may not have been warranted at his current position.
To extricate themselves from the contract in 2020, the Browns would have to cough up $2.4 million dollars, but they would get out of $4.9 million worth of salary.
Very likely Chris Hubbard will not be the right tackle next year for the Cleveland Browns. Maybe right guard, but not right tackle.