Who Should I Start? Zack Moss or Jerome Ford

Thursday, May 29, 1:27 PM

Cincinnati Bengals running back Zack Moss (neck) was active and participating in the first voluntary organized team activity session on Tuesday. Moss played in only eight games (six starts) with the Bengals last year before landing on Injured Reserve with a neck injury. The 27-year-old averaged a career-low 3.3 yards per carry on 74 rushing attempts for 242 yards and two touchdowns before his season-ending injury. However, the Bengals only took running back Tahj Brooks in the sixth round of this year's draft and signed Samaje Perine in free agency, so Moss has a solid chance of opening the 2025 campaign as the top backup to Chase Brown. If Moss looks the same as he did last year with Cincinnati, though, both Perine and Brooks could jump him on the depth chart. At best, Moss is a handcuff option in the later rounds for those that select Brown.

Friday, May 2, 11:25 PM

Cleveland Browns rookie running back Jerome Ford agreed to a pay cut with the team on Friday, reducing his 2025 salary from $3.486 million to a guaranteed $1.75 million, a league source told The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. It means that free-agent RB Nick Chubb will likely not be re-signing with the Browns this offseason. The move to reduce Ford's salary comes after the Browns selected former Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins with the 33rd overall pick in last week's NFL draft. Cleveland also added to the RB room and took former Tennessee rusher Dylan Sampson at No. 126 overall. Ford, a fifth-rounder in 2022, led the team with 565 yards on 104 carries (5.4 yards per carry) and three touchdowns with Chubb coming off a serious knee injury in 2023. The 25-year-old Ford is technically still atop the team's RB depth chart, but his reduction in pay is a clear sign that Judkins will have the opportunity to become the RB1 sooner than later in 2025.