ESPN Report: Sad News” Browns GM Still On A Serious’ Including…
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 Dorian Thompson 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.”
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ANDY REID WAS at a career crossroads in the early days of 2013. He had just finished the most difficult year of his career, beginning with the death of his son Garrett — he died of an accidental overdose, according to the Northampton County, Pennsylvania, coroner — during training camp and finishing with the Eagles at 4-12, the worst record of his career.
His 14-year tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles ended in his firing.
Some friends told Reid, then 54, that it might do him some good to step away from football for a year to relax and refresh.
Reid said he considered the idea but never seriously. He would tell them unfailingly he was more worried about himself if he didn’t have the seven-day-per-week structure that coaching provided.
That was 11 years ago.
The Kansas City Chiefs job he took only days after being fired by the Eagles has turned out better than he dared dream. Under his guidance, the Chiefs won a pair of Super Bowls and could get a third on Sunday when they face the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
Reid is now approaching another crossroads. His 25th season as an NFL head coach will be over after Super Bowl LVIII, and he turns 66 next month.
The Chiefs, unlike the Eagles 11 years ago, are certainly comfortable with Reid coaching next season and into the foreseeable future. How Reid feels about it is uncertain. He recently said he hadn’t given the matter any thought.
The question at the center of it: Has enough changed in those 11 years that Reid would be comfortable leaving behind coaching and the chance to win more Super Bowl championships with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback?
Those closest to Reid would be surprised.
“He’s in a good place, not just with Pat but with his coaching staff and with the personnel staff,” Kansas City general manager Brett Veach said. “This is the setup he’s always wanted. I think he has a lot of football coaching ahead of him, and I can see him coaching for the foreseeable future here. I think he’s got a good chunk of time left.”
