The Cleveland Browns and former starting right tackle Chris Hubbard have agreed to terms on a restructured contract.
To the surprise of many Chris Hubbard will be in a Cleveland Browns uniform next season. Their former starting right tackle has agreed to a restricted deal that keeps him in town for the time being.
Chris Hubbard could have been on his way out if he did not agree to a new deal. Cleveland recently signed Jack Conklin who will replace Hubbard as the Browns starting right tackle.
When evaluating this deal it’s not about the dollar figure that matters. It is the details. If Hubbard plays 90% of the snaps he can void the 2021 portion of the contract. Well, barring a series of unfortunate events there is almost no chance he plays anywhere near that amount. Cleveland has three starting spots on their offensive line locked down. The Browns are almost certainly going to draft a left tackle and appear to be content with Wyatt Teller at right guard for the time being. There really is not a clear path barring injury for Hubbard to see anywhere near 90% of the snaps. So why would Hubbard agree to this deal? It’s simple, because he knows he would not get anywhere near this amount of money elsewhere.
Remember when Cleveland completely mismanaged the Joe Schobert and Christian Kirskey situations resulting in them going elsewhere? They knew that they had a market and other teams would pay them. Hubbard was so atrocious last season that nobody in their right mind would pay him anywhere near what Cleveland was willing to offer. This is the flip side of how things are working in Cleveland right now. They play games and push out players they really need in order to save some money on someone who should have been let go a long time ago.