Browns GM expects Nick Chubb back but wants Joe Flacco back, too

BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry said he expects running back Nick Chubb to be on the roster next season and would “absolutely love” to have quarterback Joe Flacco return as well.

“I want to bring all of our good players back,” Berry said Monday, “but there are constraints.”

Flacco, 39, signed with Cleveland on Nov. 20 after starting quarterback Deshaun Watson’s season-ending right shoulder injury. The fourth quarterback to start for the Browns during the season, Flacco propelled Cleveland to a four-game winning streak and the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs. The Browns lost to the Houston Texans in the first round 45-14.

Flacco will be a free agent again, and the Browns are counting on Watson to be cleared this spring from surgery on his throwing shoulder. But Berry wouldn’t rule out the possibility of re-signing Flacco to back up Watson.

“Joe, he played winning football for us,” Berry said. “He did a great job of coming in and really playing at a high level. … I believe that backup quarterback really is a top-30 position on the roster.”

Berry, however, also compared Flacco’s situation to quarterback Jacoby Brissett’s last year. Brissett started 11 games for Cleveland in 2022 while Watson was suspended for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy after more than two dozen women accused him of committing sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. With Watson back atop the depth chart, Brissett ultimately left Cleveland and signed with the Washington Commanders.

The Browns also have rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson coming back. The fifth-round pick started three games this season while Watson was injured.

“[Flacco] is a good quarterback,” Berry said. “But it really depends … on the availability and the cost.”

Berry also praised Chubb, who suffered a season-ending left knee injury in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Chubb underwent two surgeries, the first to repair the medial capsule, meniscus and MCL in late September, and a second in November to repair the ACL. The injured knee was the same one Chubb had reconstructed after tearing his MCL, PCL and LCL while at Georgia in 2015.

Chubb, who has rushed for 6,511 yards and 48 touchdowns over six seasons with the Browns, also has no guaranteed money left on the extension he signed in 2021. But Berry said the plan is for Chubb to play for the Browns again in 2024.

“No one in the organization, nobody wants to see that carry in Pittsburgh be the last time that he carries the ball for the Cleveland Browns,” Berry said. “Obviously there are things that we’ll have to work through, but [moving on from Chubb] would not be our intention.”