Browns' Kareem Hunt's passion for football supersedes summer of contract discontent

BEREA — If Kareem Hunt needs something to override his disappointment, the Browns running back will find it this weekend.

The front office did not give him the contract extension he sought and rebuffed his trade request in August, when he declined to participate in team drills for two days.

Forming a one-two punch with Nick Chubb for the fourth consecutive season, Hunt, 27, will play on the final year of his contract that will pay him a base salary of $1.35 million and a roster bonus of $4.9 million.

The Browns open the season Sunday against the Carolina Panthers and their former quarterback Baker Mayfield. It will be the first action of 2022 for Hunt, who missed nine games, including the final four, in 2021 because of injuries and COVID-19. Hunt was among those coach Kevin Stefanski rested in the preseason.

Asked if he will take out his lingering frustration from the summer on the field, Hunt laughed and said, “That’s how I always play.

“Man, everything’s cool, I’m just excited I get to go out there and play football again, the game I love. That’s all I get to do.”

The 2017 NFL rushing champion as a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs, Hunt declined to discuss any residual feelings he might have over his contract.

“Right now I’m focused on Sunday. I’m ready to take care of business,” he said.

Asked if that is difficult, he said, “I love the game of football, so nah.”

Hunt played at Willoughby South High School and has been a Browns fan all his life, adding to his desire to finish his career in Cleveland. He’s excited to play with Chubb, saying, “That’s my brother right there.”

With a big season, Hunt might be able to prove his value to the Browns, but they seem to be preparing for life without him. D’Ernest Johnson filled in admirably a year ago and Jerome Ford was drafted in the fifth round out of the University of Cincinnati.

In eight games in 2021, Hunt finished third on the Browns in rushing with 386 yards (4.9 average) and five touchdowns, and added 22 receptions for 174 yards (7.9 average).

In 32 games in three seasons with the Browns, Hunt has rushed for 1,406 yards, contributed 763 yards receiving and totaled 19 touchdowns (13 rushing).

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This season, the Browns’ lack of proven receivers behind No. 1 Amari Cooper might lead Stefanski to use Hunt more as a threat out of the backfield, or perhaps even line him up wide. Hunt totaled five receiving touchdowns in 2020, when the Browns went to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, but had zero last year.

Hunt believes that could happen, but said, “That’s coach’s decision.”

His teammates would be all for it.

“Yeah, if I’m not mistaken, I think he’s led the team the past two years in receiving touchdowns ... I’m not quite 100 percent sure on that,” Cooper said Thursday. “He’s been real effective in the pass game.”

There has also been the persistent question of when the Browns will use Chubb and Hunt on the field together.

Asked if that's in the offing, Hunt said, “I believe so. It will be an advantage. I don’t mind going out there and running routes or blocking or anything, or getting the ball, him doing it, vice versa.”

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt would give nothing away on Hunt’s role.

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“We love him as a runner, 1 and 1A really in the backfield,” Van Pelt said Thursday of Hunt. “Both guys are great, great runners, but he brings a skillset that you can use elsewhere as well.

“We will find a way to put the best 11 guys on the field each time. It may not be all the time and it may not be at all this week, but we will find ways to get those guys involved.”

The Browns draw off Hunt’s energy and missed that in 2021 during an 8-9 season. A year ago, Mayfield said that Hunt “runs like the Tasmanian devil” and that description ended up on a T-shirt produced by BreakingT.

Left guard Joel Bitonio knows how much the Browns need Hunt.

“Oh, it’s huge … his energy, his passion for the game,” Bitonio said Thursday. “I think everybody here loves it to an extent, but he loves playing the game, and when he's out there you know he's going to give it 100%. It's exciting to see him back out there healthy and ready to go.”

After Mayfield tore the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder in Week 2 last season trying to bring down a defender after an interception, Hunt’s response was, “Let me tackle him next time.” That comment epitomizes Hunt’s mentality.

“Yeah, definitely. I'll be the one to take the hit off my brother, anything like that,” Hunt said. “I play for the guys in the locker room. That's the biggest thing. I love them, they're all my teammates and I'm going to go out there and do my thing for them.”

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Mayfield was traded to the Panthers on July 6 after the Browns replaced him in a blockbuster deal with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson, suspended by the league for the first 11 games. That will make for an intriguing matchup against Mayfield, the Browns’ first overall pick in 2018.

“It’s going to be different,” Hunt said. “I wish him the best and I wish us better.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns Kareem Hunt puts aside contract demand