Nick Chubb Top Free-Agent Landing Spots

May 25, 2025

John Johnson breaks down all the best landing spots for free-agent running back Nick Chubb. His best teams for Chubb to land on for the 2025 NFL season.

Former Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb, who returned from a serious knee injury that ended his 2023 season just two games in, was let go by his team at the end of the 2024 season. Considering he still hasn't signed with a team, it could be some time before he finds a new home.

The 2025 NFL Draft came and went, and many teams that had needs at the position were able to fill them with their rookie selections. In addition, many teams made moves for free-agent RBs or re-signed their guys to contract extensions.

Thus, the options for Chubb have slowly dwindled as the offseason has progressed. But that doesn't mean he's completely without hope, as if he's able to recover more from his ailment, there could be plenty of teams in need of his services. So, let's break down some of his best possible landing spots!

Chicago Bears

There have been rumors that Chicago was interested in signing Chubb, but nothing has materialized yet. Despite this year's running back draft class being one of the more stacked in recent memory, Chicago elected to wait until the seventh round to select RB Kyle Monangai.

D'Andre Swift, the team's current lead back, has serious issues with his game that seem like they could preclude him from ever being put in a workhorse role. His tape is littered with instances of him refusing to take inside cuts, even when there's plenty of space to work there, and instead bouncing runs outside.

Tired of the excuses that some Bears fans make for D’Andre Swift

Yes the OL was bad but Swift was also really bad. Lack of vision, inability to get any yards after contact.

Probably fine as a #2 RB but Bears need to be targeting RB in the draft within first 3 picks

— Rishab 🐻⬇️ (@RishabSikri) March 15, 2025

It's not a very good idea to let yourself get swept away in the amount of Bears propaganda there is on social media. Bears fans seem to, en masse, stubbornly refuse to accept that any quarterback, running back, or skill-position player on their team stinks, instead fully blaming the offensive line and coaching staff for all the problems.

I’ve probably seen this video 500 times and I laughed 500 times… Bears coach Eric Bieniemy tellin rookie RB Kyle Monangai you “movin like an old ass man” and he really is lol
pic.twitter.com/rBfQzVZiOt

— John Frascella (Football) (@NFLFrascella) May 31, 2025

So, it shouldn't be a surprise that Swift is getting the Justin Fields treatment. The same will happen for Monangai, who, despite being a seventh-round selection and being verifiably not fast, is already drawing praise as a massive steal for a few training-camp videos of him running through some drills.

These were in response to one of the Bears coaches saying he was slow. Either way, there is room on this roster for an at least 80 percent healthy version of Chubb to get a decent role. The team loaded up its offensive line with free-agent signings and draft selections.

The Bears Offensive Line looks completely different after just one offseason 😳 pic.twitter.com/SYFoRVxTEl

— PFF (@PFF) May 5, 2025

Chubb benefiting from a much more loaded OL and the elite offensive coaching of Ben Johnson could actually make him fantasy relevant again.

Dallas Cowboys

What a shocker, the Cowboys on a list of good landing spots for a running back. But Dallas genuinely doesn't have much talent in the backfield. Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, the team's two current "lead" running backs, were both terrible in 2023 and 2024. And Phil Mafah and Jaydon Blue are rookies.

If Mafah doesn't pan out, perhaps Chubb could be brought in and immediately serve in a committee with Blue, with Sanders or Williams being cut or relegated to the sidelines. The Cowboys keep investing in their offensive line, and generally have a solid offense, so Chubb would be in a solid situation.

Should the Cowboys sign Nick Chubb? pic.twitter.com/b53sB2HiTB

— SleeperCowboys (@SleeperCowboys) May 11, 2025

Kansas City Chiefs

Chubb would be an unironic upgrade over Kareem Hunt as the Chiefs' RB2. With lead back Isiah Pacheco having a disappointing season in 2024, even in the two games he played before he broke his leg, perhaps Kansas City head coach Andy Reid wants to keep the committee backfield system that he ran last year installed.

If that happens, Chubb would be in good hands here. It seems highly unlikely that he'll regain a workhorse role at any point in the future, so a committee on a good offense could be the best-case scenario for him. With less volume, he'd be putting less stress on his surgically-repaired knee, too.

Nick Chubb to the Chiefs is going to happen https://t.co/fzXwKw5stD

— Kc Buku (@KCBUKU) April 16, 2025

Kansas City's rushing offense lacked explosive plays last season, and despite signing free-agent Elijah Mitchell and selecting RB Brashard Smith in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft, perhaps neither will have a big impact on the team this year. Mitchell's in his fifth season, and Smith might take time to get worked into the offense.

The team signing Chubb and cutting Hunt would have made a lot of sense if it hadn't extended Hunt in the offseason, but he could serve in a backup role of some sort were the team to make a move for Chubb.

Washington Commanders

The Commanders, who had one of the league's best offenses last season, lack a serious rushing threat. Lead back Brian Robinson Jr. has a few nice games every season, but seems to deal with injury issues and miss time often. And his play tends to fade as the season wears on.

Backup RB Austin Ekeler is 30 years old and isn't a serious contender to take rushing volume away from Robinson. He's the primary pass-catching back. So, if Chubb could return to form, he could have one or two final solid seasons in Washington.

Nick Chubb back to his normal self on the Commanders would be scary. https://t.co/65yKPYoV2l

— Zac (@DCzWall) April 29, 2025

The rushing ability of Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels helps draw defensive attention away from the team's running backs, forcing defenses to account for both on read-option plays to a higher degree. They also signed some reinforcements along the offensive line to help with blocking.

It feels like a bit of cheating to say Chubb landing on a good offense would be good for him, but that's generally how it works in the NFL. When defenses don't have to worry about the opposing team's passing game, they can sell out to stop the run just a bit more, and play with their linebackers closer to the line of scrimmage.

1 minute of Jayden Daniels being clutch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/y1DZgYpDxS

— CommandersMuse (@CommandersMusee) May 17, 2025

Daniels is enough of a threat in the passing game to stretch opposing defenses to their limits. Robinson isn't anything special, and Chubb, were he reasonably healthy and back to form, could easily eat into his workload significantly and probably pick up a solid number of touchdowns in the process.

Some Caveats

With remarkable recovery stories of players who suffered devastating knee injuries being such visible parts of their legacies, perhaps fantasy managers as a whole think that players are more likely than they are to recover and return to form from these huge ailments.

The case of Adrian Peterson and, in fact, early career Chubb might contribute to this. Chubb shredded his knee in college, but recovered well and went on to have a great NFL career. But that was when he was much, much younger. Chubb looked nothing like his old self in 2024, even after over a year of recovery time.

Looks like Nick Chubb has recovered well from his injury. This was two weeks ago.

Should the Bears take a flyer on him? Could have a bounce back season with Ben Johnson’s scheme & Chicago’s revamped offensive line.
pic.twitter.com/8XJqB75utX

— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) April 28, 2025

The videos of him lifting huge weights might be encouraging. But remember that he was doing that before his 2024 campaign, which also ended with a fractured foot. Chubb averaged 3.25 yards per carry in 2024 and looked like a shadow of his former self. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get signed at all this season.

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