Review of Cleveland Browns Free Agents: Is Kareem Hunt still a starter at the running back position?
The running back position is the next topic we will cover in our analysis of the Cleveland Browns free agents. Running back has just one player on the open market: Kareem Hunt, unlike quarterback, which has three players scheduled to go undrafted.
His off-field domestic abuse incident marred his second season after joining the Kansas City Chiefs for the first two of his career. Despite having just finished a Pro Bowl season, the Chiefs released him during the season. In 2019 he signed with the Browns during the offseason. Before making his debut, he would serve an eight-game suspension during that season.
After four years with Cleveland, he became a free agent in 2023, but the team chose not to resign him. Rumored landing locations included
Productivity Level Previous Season: Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Gregory Shamus took the picture/Getty Images
Hunt’s burst had disappeared the previous season, but his strengths remained in finding the end zone, putting up hard yardage, and being a seasoned presence in the running back room. Hunt had 135 carries for 411 yards (3.0 YPC) and 9 touchdowns in the regular season. Remarkably, Hunt caught just 15 passes for 84 yards during the season, making him a non-factor as a receiver. In the first half of the Browns’ playoff loss to the Texans, he also scored two touchdowns.
Was there a reason why Hunt didn’t produce many yards per carry? Hunt reportedly underwent sports hernia surgery following the season “to repair a ruptured adductor that apparently plagued him much of the 2023 season.” That would definitely contribute to the explanation of his lack of explosiveness (16 yards was his longest run of the season) and his incapacity to gain momentum following catches in the flat.
Starting quarterback Jerome Ford had 204 carries for 813 yards (4.0 YPC) and 4 touchdowns; Hunt’s average was a full yard per carry behind him. In his first full season with the Browns, Ford amassed over 1,000 all-purpose yards, but it was clear that his vision and instincts were below average, leaving some yardage on the field.
The most important running back is Nick Chubb, but he recently suffered a terrible injury. Although it’s expected that he will be ready to play in 2024, we don’t know when precisely, and it doesn’t seem likely that he will be prepared for the team’s offseason activities. In order to find out if they can have the same kind of success as some of these NFL teams, Cleveland needs to take a chance on another young running back. Following his surgery at the end of January, Hunt should be cleared to resume football activities in March or April. I don’t see him having a big market this offseason if there wasn’t one big enough to sign him last offseason.
He won’t have a sizable market this offseason, in my opinion. Although there is a new running backs coach in town, I believe it would be beneficial for both sides to have him return for a similar one-year, $1.2 million contract.
Please share your thoughts below on whether the team should re-sign free agent running back Kareem Hunt.
