Kareem Hunt will be in Cleveland for at least two more seasons. Hunt signed a 2-year contract extension this week that will keep the running back with the Browns through the 2022 campaign. A humble, smiling Hunt is very happy about getting more opportunities to play in his hometown.
“I am just grateful,” Hunt said in his Zoom press conference on Wednesday, his first meeting with the media since signing his extension. “I have to thank everybody in the building from top to bottom. It is an honor to be here, especially in my hometown.”
Hunt also made it a point to cite former Browns GM John Dorsey, who signed him in Cleveland in 2019 when that wasn’t a popular decision. Dorsey originally drafted Hunt to the Kansas City Chiefs when he was that team’s GM in 2017, too.
Some have expressed concern over what the commitment to Hunt means for fellow RB Nick Chubb, the NFL’s No. 2 rusher in 2019. Hunt doesn’t see any issue and took the question as a chance to pump up his Browns backfield mate.
“I would definitely love to be a tandem here with Nick for a long time,” Hunt said. “Nick is a great back. He is definitely one of those backs who can take it to the house at any moment. Our conversations are still the same. We are really good buddies and we look out for each other.”
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Hunt caught 37 passes on 44 targets and carried the ball 43 times in eight games with the Browns in 2019. He missed the first half of the season while suspended by the NFL for a domestic assault in a Cleveland hotel room while he was still a member of the Chiefs. He has avoided trouble since, and now the Browns are counting on him to remain a big piece of the offense for the next three seasons.