D’Onta Foreman, RB, to Sign With Browns.
Kareem Hunt is unsigned for the Browns while Nick Chubb recovers from an ACL injury. Before Chubb begins his eighth season, the team will still make an effort to get some seasoned insurance.
I’m signing D’Onta Foreman, tweets ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Over the last three years, Foreman has moved across the league, but during that time, he has remained an important backfield piece. Foreman was a previous third-round choice. The previous contributor to the Bears, Panthers, and Titans is now heading to Cleveland. In Cleveland, Foreman will reunite with former Panthers running backs coach Duce Staley.
This information was leaked not too long after it was thought the Browns were considering not making a significant change to their backfield. However, the squad has now added two senior players. Nyheim Hines, a return specialist and pass-down back, was added by Cleveland last week. Cleveland’s wide receiver corps is crowded by the remaining contracts of Pierre Strong, a 2023 trade acquisition, and Jerome Ford.
After spending some time out of the NFL in the late 2010s, Foreman has returned to play a leading role in a couple backfields. Following Derrick Henry’s 2021 foot fracture, the Titans ultimately decided to go with Foreman in instead of Henry. After Christian McCaffrey was traded by the Panthers, Foreman went from being a seldom used backup to a regular starter. With the Bears, Foreman, 27, did not observe the same utilization. However, he made eight game starts and was a regular member of Chicago’s three-headed backfield.
As a backup to Chubb, the 235-pound back isn’t much of a passing down presence. Alongside Hunt, Ford played in that capacity for the Browns previous season, when they finished 12th in the league in running after Ford accumulated 1,132 scrimmage yards. Though the Browns would prefer to have Ford and Foreman vying for RB2 work, there seems to be more competition on the horizon. Despite having had two operations, Chubb and the Browns should talk about an extension soon.
There is one more season left on Chubb’s contract, which has a $15.8MM cap figure and a basic salary of $11.78MM. An extension would lower that amount, but before approving such a deal, the Browns will probably want confirmation that Chubb is on schedule for a full recovery. The enduring Pro Bowler is currently scheduled to make a comeback. Nevertheless, this is something to keep an eye on a little closer because the Browns felt the need to acquire Foreman.
In Tennessee and Charlotte, Foreman made an impression. He helped the Titans survive and earn a No. 1 seed, and he then came dangerously close to leading the Steve Wilks-led Panthers to an unexpected postseason appearance. Despite receiving just 12 touches during McCaffrey’s half-season in Charlotte, Foreman finished with five 100-yard rushing games while playing for the Panthers. Despite the Titans’ first attempt to replace Henry with Adrian Peterson, the Texas alum produced three 100-yard running days in 2021, and he ended that season with 914 yards.
Foreman has continued to attract free agency interest despite his success as a fill-in producing nothing in the way of money. With just 29 carries between 2018 and 20, Foreman’s career total of 552 totes. He should be relatively fresh as the Browns strengthen their complementary Chubb group.
