KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – NOVEMBER 21: Clyde Edwards-Helaire #25 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs off of the field against the Dallas Cowboys during an NFL game at Arrowhead Stadium on November 21, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Kareem Hunt requested a trade from the Browns on Sunday. There are three reasons why his former team, the Kansas City Chiefs, will not be a suitor.
It’s been two days since Browns running back Kareem Hunt requested to be traded and was denied by the team, but that doesn’t make him a guarantee to spend the 2022 season in Cleveland. There is surely an offer out there, somewhere, enticing enough for the Browns, who’s future is uncertain in the wake of the Deshaun Watson debacle.
One place that Hunt certainly won’t have a chance to wind up, however, is back with the team that drafted him.
There are three primary reasons why the Kansas City Chiefs trading for Kareem Hunt will never happen.
Chiefs: 3 reasons Kareem Hunt trade can’t and won’t happen
3. Existing talent in Chiefs running back room
The sting that came with Kareem Hunt being released by the Chiefs in 2018 didn’t linger for all that long. There was certainly a shock factor that came with the video of him shoving and kicking a woman being released, but the team itself didn’t miss his presence.
En route to their first AFC Championship appearance in 25 years, the Chiefs seamlessly replaced Hunt with the No. 2 and No. 3 RBs on the depth chart, Spencer Ware and Damien Williams. After the Patriots beat the Chiefs in that AFC title game, the reigns were handed over to Williams as the premier back for the following season.
He played a large role in Kansas City winning Super Bowl LIV and then reassumed backup responsibilities after the Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the first round of the 2020 draft.
In short, the Chiefs cut Kareem Hunt and continued on to back-to-back AFC Championships and secured their first Super Bowl in 50 years. Since then, the running back room has struggled a bit with CEH having yet to peak in the NFL. Even so, Kansas City is entering the 2022 regular season with a roster jam-packed with running backs.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jerick McKinnon, Ronald Jones, Isiah Pacheco, Derrick Gore, and Tayon Fleet-Davis (in order) make up the RBs on the Chiefs’ first official depth chart ahead of their preseason opener this weekend. McKinnon is 30 years old and Gore is 27, but Jones, as the third oldest back in the room, is just 25. The other three are 23 or younger.
Whether Clyde Edwards-Helaire breaks out in 2022, or if any of the aforementioned take over as RB1, it is clear that the Chiefs’ primary motive in this offseason was to sign and retain young, affordable talent. They have plenty of that among the currently rostered running backs and will role with the greatest producers to emerge from that group. Bringing in a 27-year-old Kareem Hunt, who will enter free agency in 2023, would go directly against that prospect.