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About the Browns & contract extensions; Nick Chubb; Cade York & more – Terry Pluto - cleveland.com CLEVELAND, Ohio - The last Browns coach/GM combination to receive a contract extension was Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage. It was right after the Halley’s Comet season of 2007. I call it that because it came out of nowhere. Led by Derek Anderson, the Browns finished 10-6. In the first two years of the Crennel/Savage regime, the Browns were 6-10 and 4-12. They needed a big season in 2007 to keep their jobs, and along came Anderson and the 10-6 record. That led to contract extensions for Crennel, Savage and several key assistant coaches including Rob Chudzinski. Then came 2008 … injuries … back to 4-12, like 2006. All the key people were fired, and owner Randy Lerner brought in Eric Mangini to run everything. Crennel/Savage lasted four years. Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam are working on contract extensions for GM Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski. They have been together for four years. The way they worked together in 2023 was impressive, because things could have collapsed after Nick Chubb and Deshaun Watson went down for the season. Chubb played three quarters. Watson played only five full games. Berry and Stefanski are entering the final year of the contracts they signed in 2020. That’s the reason for the extensions, along with rewarding them for a good job. Since Berry and Stefanski arrived, the whisper of “internal discord” and other in-fighting on the Browns ended. I’m sure they’ve had their disputes. But they don’t go public and point fingers of blame at each other. That’s critical to building success and dealing with adversity. Until they arrived, the Browns were known for the feuds within the building and power struggles. It’s a relief to see the operation run professionally. BEING REAL ABOUT RUNNING BACKS The Browns keep adding running backs, and that’s smart. They signed veteran D’Onta Foreman. I’ve always liked him in terms of being a solid back. He joins Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong from last season. Yes, the Browns also signed Nyheim Hines, but he’s mostly a special teams guy and perhaps a running back who can catch passes. What about Nick Chubb? The Browns are encouraged about his progress, but not wanting to put any timetable on his return. “Call it three months,” Berry told cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot and a few other media members at the owners meetings. “That will be pretty telling in terms of his potential readiness for early in the season. We’re going to be conservative in terms of our approach in our assessment with building the roster because he’s coming off of a major knee injury.” It’s doubtful most people know exactly what Chubb is facing. He injured his knee in the second quarter of a Sept. 18, 2023, loss in Pittsburgh. That led to surgery to repair the MCL in September. But there also was damage to the ACL in the same knee. That led to another operation – on Nov. 14, 2023. The original plan was for two surgeries because of the severity of the knee injury. Making it more complicated, Chubb suffered a major injury to the same knee in 2015 while playing at Georgia. “He had torn the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), MCL (medial collateral) and LCL (lateral collateral) in an instant,” wrote NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread about Chubb’s Georgia injury. “There was cartilage damage as well. Yet somehow, his ACL -- the ligament that typically results in a season-ender when torn -- was intact. That there were three torn ligaments made Chubb’s injury very serious; that the ACL wasn’t torn made it very unique.” But this time, he also ripped the ACL. The Browns are simply being smart. The more respectable running backs, the better. It also allows Chubb to not rush the process. THEN THERE’S QUARTERBACKS The Browns sound very upbeat about Deshaun Watson’s progress from shoulder surgery. He has started throwing. Watson had surgery on Nov. 21, 2023 to repair his fractured right shoulder socket. It’s not a common injury for a quarterback. It’s to fine to project he’ll play well and be healthy at least for most season. ut the wise move is to have QBs. Lots of QBs. That’s why Berry quickly signed veteran Jameis Winston as the primary backup. Then he was surprised and pleased to see former Ravens QB Tyler Huntley available. Berry said this to the media at the owners meetings about Huntley: “Quarterback’s the most important position. We wouldn’t stop acquiring offensive or defensive linemen. We wouldn’t do the same at quarterback.” The 30-year-old Winston has started 80 NFL games. Huntley has started nine. The Browns also have Dorian Thompson-Robinson (DTR), who started three games last season. After going through five different QBs last season, this is a wise approach. It’s OK to hope for the best-case scenario when it comes to Watson and Chubb. But the Browns have to be realistic and plan for the worst. HOW ABOUT KICKERS? The same philosophy holds when it comes to finding someone behind Dustin Hopkins. The main reason the Chargers were willing to trade Hopkins to the Browns at the end of the 2023 training camp was his history of injuries, especially hamstrings.Hopkins played only five games for the Chargers in 2022. He made it through 15 games for the Browns in 2023 before hurting his hamstring again. SIDENOTE: I do wish kickers and QBs would stop trying to act like football players and make tackles. That’s how Baker Mayfield hurt his shoulder with the Browns in 2021. Hopkins was chasing a return man when he pulled his hamstring. Anyway, Hopkins is back … and so is Cade York, the kicker he replaced. The fact that York was cut by Cleveland, and then by the Giants and Titans doesn’t bother me. Phil Dawson was cut three times before finally making the Browns in 1999.Hopkins was cut by Buffalo, New Orleans and Washington during his career. Most kickers – even good ones – are cut at least once early in their careers. York is there for protection on the practice squad, and maybe he’ll figure it out.

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