By Dianna Russini, Nate Taylor and Amos Morale III
The Kansas City Chiefs are signing running back Kareem Hunt to their practice squad, team sources said Tuesday.
The Chiefs hope Hunt can help stabilize the offense during the absence of starter Isiah Pacheco, who is expected to miss at least two months during his rehab following the surgery he had to repair the fractured fibula in his right leg. On Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he didn’t have a timeline on Pacheco’s return.
By starting Hunt on the practice squad, Reid could give him two weeks to get acclimated to his new teammates and the playbook while building his conditioning to be ready to play, perhaps making his first appearance as early as the Chiefs’ Week 4 game on Sept. 29 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
In 2017, Hunt led the league in rushing. Nearly six years since he was last in the Chiefs’ uniform, he is expected to be a rotational contributor — along with veteran running backs Samaje Perine and Clyde Edwards-Helaire and rookie fullback Carson Steele — in the backfield alongside quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Kansas City drafted Hunt in the third round in 2017. He rushed for 2,151 yards and 15 touchdowns with the team before being released on Nov. 30, 2018, after TMZ Sports posted a video of him shoving and kicking a woman in a hallway of a Cleveland hotel on Feb. 10, 2018.
Several years ago, the belief inside the Chiefs’ organization was the team would never have a reunion with Hunt, especially after his swift release. After the move, the team also noted that Hunt lied about the incident on multiple occasions, including conversations with club owner Clark Hunt.
Hunt would later sign with the Cleveland Browns, where he spent parts of five seasons and tallied 2,285 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.
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