KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs are signing Kareem Hunt to their practice squad, reuniting with a running back who first achieved stardom with them before video of him assaulting a woman led to his release, a person familiar with their decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the team had not yet announced the move.
The Chiefs brought Hunt in for a workout after Isiah Pacheco, their top running back, sustained a right ankle injury in Sunday’s win over Cincinnati that could keep him out the majority of the season. They also have Clyde Edwards-Helaire on the non-football illness list for at least two more games, leaving them short-handed at the position heading to Atlanta this weekend.
Undrafted rookie Carson Steele and journeyman Samaje Perine are expected to get the majority of snaps, though the Chiefs also have Keaontay Ingram and Emani Bailey that they could promote from the practice squad to provide some depth.
That is where Hunt is likely to reside for at least a couple of weeks, until he learns enough of the playbook to contribute.
The Chiefs drafted him in the third round in 2017 out of Toledo, and he immediately made an impact, running for a league-high 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie. He came back the following season, the first with Patrick Mahomes as the starter at quarterback, and ran for 824 yards and seven touchdowns through the first 11 games.
In late November, video surfaced that showed Hunt shoving a woman to the ground and kicking her in the hallway of a Cleveland hotel. The Chiefs released him, though no charges were filed when the woman stopped cooperating with authorities.
The Browns signed him in February, and Hunt served an eight-game suspension at the start of the 2018 season for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy. He went on to run for for 179 yards and two touchdowns and caught 37 passes for 285 yards and another score, earning a two-year, $13.25 million contract extension to remain a part of the Cleveland backfield.
Hunt missed part of the 2021 season with a calf injury and fell behind Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford in the rotation, and he did not re-sign with Cleveland after last season. He wound up spending five years there, running for 2,285 yards and five TDs.
The Chiefs are chasing a record third consecutive Super Bowl title this season. They opened with a 27-20 win over Baltimore that came down to an incompletion by the Ravens in the end zone on the final play of the game. Then on Sunday, they rallied to beat the Bengals 26-25 when Harrison Butker kicked a 51-yard field goal with no time left.
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