A lot of Chicago Bears fans suddenly sat up in their chairs when the news dropped that the Kansas City Chiefs had cut star running back Kareem Hunt. The move was somewhat unprecedented. Even though the 23-year old was in serious hot water after video surfaced of him shoving and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel a few months ago, nobody thought the Chiefs would have the guts to outright release him.
That’s why the move came as such a shock. Then the inevitable followup question arrived. Would the Bears dare consider signing him? It’s well-documented the team has a bit of an identity crisis at running back right now. Jordan Howard just can’t seem to get on track in Matt Nagy’s system and it continues to show. He’s yet to top 100 yards in a game this year.
Hunt played under Nagy in 2017 when he was Chiefs offensive coordinator. He was the NFL’s leading rusher that season. From a football standpoint, it seems like the answer to the Bears’ problem. After the Giants game on Sunday, Nagy was asked about this possibility. His answer was somewhat vague, but also dismissive.
“I’m not gonna get into that. I think, No. 1, me personally, just the entire situation is unfortunate for everybody involved. And so that’s not where we’re at. We’re focusing on today and who this team is.”
Bears signing Kareem Hunt question won’t be an issue for a long time
At the end of the day, this issue doesn’t matter. Even if the Bears were interested in Hunt, there’s nothing they can do about what’s coming. Reports are that the NFL plans to suspend the running back over the hotel incident and another involving a physical altercation with a man earlier this year. While the exact number of games is unclear, the belief is it will exceed six.
This means Hunt likely won’t be eligible to play until at least the halfway point of the 2019 season. Odds are he will go unclaimed on waivers due to this reality. So teams will likely keep an eye on his situation going into next year to see how he handles these issues and then consider whether to sign him in free agency.
Will Chicago be one of those teams? The Nagy connection is undeniably something that will interest the young running back once he’s available. The problem is the Bears haven’t been a team open to signing players with his sort of history ever since the debacle with Ray McDonald back in 2015. So it would likely take a ton of convincing to consider such a move.
Would Nagy go to bat for his former star? Only he can answer that and he’s not talking.
