3 Cleveland Browns who could be extended before 2021 season begins

1. Nick Chubb, Running Back

This one feels like a no-brainer, but it might not be.

Nick Chubb is the star of the Cleveland Browns offense. He might not be as flashy as Odell Beckham, Jr., or as vocal as Jarvis Landry. He also doesn’t star in Progressive commercials like Baker Mayfield, but he’s the one who they can count on to move the chains consistently and set the tone for the offense.

A second-round pick out of Georgia in 2018, Chubb has run for 3,557 yards and 28 touchdowns in his first three seasons. He’s also proven to be a weapon catching the ball — something he didn’t really do at UGA ‚— as he has 72 catches for 577 yards and two more touchdowns.

And now, he enters his final season under contract and it feels as though he’s a player the Browns would love to extend. But the question becomes whether or not this front office feels as though it’s the right move.

It’s no secret that Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski are big proponents of analytics when it comes to team-building. And most people who are big into analytics will say that paying a running back isn’t wise. On top of that, we have seen some second contracts for backs go bad in recent years — see David Johnson, Todd Gurley, and Ezekiel Elliott (even though Dallas is still in denial on that one).

Having said that, it’s not easy to let a player with this kind of talent walk away. That’s why Stefanski’s old team, the Minnesota Vikings, just gave Dalvin Cook a monster deal. It’s also why Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry also got paid.

Chances are, Cleveland would love to extend Chubb but they will also try and make it a team-friendly deal. Perhaps that gets done because it’s not unbelievable that Chubb would take a deal that’s fair for both sides to continue building something here.