Ford curiously accepted a paycut to roughly half of his originally scheduled salary - $3.486 million to $1.75 million - but despite that development it still appears that Ford will be the primary passing-down back for Cleveland in 2025, at least initially. Ford has done a good job in that role the last two years, providing the Browns with 1,099 quality snaps and quietly making Ford one of the NFL's most active running backs in that span. That Ford lacks breakaway speed and memorable power makes it easy to overlook him, but he has been a consistent positive contributor and should continue playing around 30 snaps per game even if 36th overall selection Quinshon Judkins takes over the Browns backfield otherwise. Kevin Stefanski wants to conduct a run-heavy offense, and if he succeeds in that goal then the Browns should have plenty of work for Judkins and Ford both, especially while Judkins is a rookie. Fourth-round pick rookie Dylan Sampson likely is not a threat to take Ford's playing time, because Sampson is likely the worst of the three on passing downs and can't match Judkins as a pure runner.
