Browns' Baffling Nick Chubb Decision a Clear Sign They're Tanking

While the Cleveland Browns are a fine 2-3 in their last five games and are coming off a competitive loss, that brutal 1-6 start to the season with Deshaun Watson at the helm has clearly made this a lost year. And finally having their own first-round pick again, a few late-season losses could actually benefit the franchise.

But with the drama around the franchise and Kevin Stefanski's job security issues, there aren't many people in the building who would realistically be buying into losing games on purpose. Or so you'd think.

Stefanski might have more job security than we realize, because his handling of Nick Chubb on Monday could not have been anything except an effort to tank.

After Chubb played a season-high 66% of Cleveland's offensive snaps in their Week 12 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he could barely get in on the action against the Broncos. Chubb recorded a season-low 9 carries, matched his season low with 11 total touches and played just 34% of the snaps. Jerome Ford, in comparison, played 66% of the snaps.

The guy is still working his way back from a serious injury, so that's always the first thought when we see Chubb's action limited. But Stefanski admitted that his health had nothing to do with it.

And when you consider the fact that Chubb is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, it's also not like the Browns have any reason to ease up on his workload to keep him fresh for next season. They're just straight up refusing to commit to their All-Pro running back.

According to Tankathon, the Browns would hold the No. 8 overall pick if the season ended today. They're only one win ahead of the top tanking teams (the Jaguars, Raiders and Giants, who are all 2-10), but with the way Jameis Winston is playing it will be a tall task to lose enough games to jump into the top three.

But hey, maybe Stefanski decides to abandon all pretext of trying to win and benches Jameis Winston to get Dorian Thompson-Robinson some looks as the season winds down too. If that does happen it would be a very clear sign that Stefanski feels like his job is not on the line, and that he can afford to lose some extra games with an eye toward the 2026 season.

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