4 difficult decisions Cleveland Browns will need to make this offseason

3. How does Cleveland approach the Nick Chubb situation?

After suffering a gruesome knee injury to end his season last year, running back Nick Chubb will now enter the final year of his contract with the Browns. In 2024, his cap number is set to be $15.825 million. Here's the kicker, though: if Cleveland were to cut him, they could save $11.825 million in doing so.

The Browns already have an insurance policy in Jerome Ford, and as we know, running backs are highly replaceable in today's NFL.

Cleveland will probably end up asking Chubb to take a pay cut if he'd like to remain with the team, rather than releasing him. It seems like the right thing to do on both sides, and we've seen similar situations recently with guys like Joe Mixon and Aaron Jones agreeing to take reductions in their salary.

Chubb seems like a lifelong Brown. It's in his DNA to finish his career with Cleveland. We're talking about maybe the best pure runner in the league over the past few years and a guy in a long line of talented Browns backs over their illustrious history.

In the end, I would assume he and the team can come to an agreement on a proper paycut that keeps him around and potentially part of another playoff run this coming season.