According to a source relayed by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Friday, Kareem Hunt is making a return to the Kansas City Chiefs with a one-year deal that could earn him up to $2.5 million.
Hunt will join a dynamic backfield spearheaded by Isiah Pacheco. Adding more depth to the roster, the team also welcomed Elijah Mitchell, previously of the San Francisco 49ers, just this week.
At 29, Hunt rejoined the Chiefs for a second stint during the 2024 season after Pacheco was placed on injured reserve. Last season, Hunt led the team by rushing for 728 yards and scoring seven touchdowns, with an additional 117 yards and two touchdowns in three postseason appearances.
Back in 2017, the Chiefs drafted Hunt in the third round, the same year they snagged Patrick Mahomes. Hunt’s rookie year was nothing short of spectacular—he topped the league with 1,327 rushing yards, caught 53 passes, and scored a total of 11 touchdowns.
However, his swift rise hit a snag in 2018 when a video surfaced showing an altercation between Hunt and a woman outside his Cleveland apartment. The NFL responded by placing him on the commissioner’s exempt list, and the Chiefs released him due to discrepancies in his account of the incident.
Hunt then spent five seasons playing for the Cleveland Browns, his hometown team. His standout year came in 2020 with 841 rushing yards and 38 receptions, culminating in a personal best of nine rushing touchdowns in the 2023 season.
Over his eight-season career, Hunt has amassed 5,164 rushing yards and scored 64 touchdowns in total.
[Adam Teicher from ESPN also contributed to this report.]
