The Kansas City Chiefs want some bang for their buck in the run game, and as a result, a veteran might have to make way.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ run game last season was one of the worst in football, averaging just 101.2 points per game (ranked 26th).
With Isiah Pacheco out injured, it was up to veteran Kareem Hunt to shoulder the load, which he did well (728 yards, seven touchdowns), but the Chiefs didn’t have the breakaway threat out of the backfield.
Both Hunt and Pacheco are bruising runners, but this offseason Elijah Mitchell was assigned in free agency, and Brashard Smith was drafted, with each offering a genuine home-run threat.
Where does that leave Hunt? In a group of backs that now has himself, Pacheco, Mitchell, and Smith, there are a lot of mouths to feed and only one football.
For Bleacher Report, he’s a potential cut candidate.
And to us, that is a little odd.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (29) is congratulated by quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15)
The Chiefs signed Hunt to a one-year, $1.5 million contract, so cutting him to save $632,353 doesn’t exactly feel like a “Chiefs move” to us.
Given that the running back room has a host of options, and Hunt was the bellcow last year, even in the playoffs when Pacheco returned, maybe he does have a role to play, at least this season.
Mitchell didn’t play a single down in 2024 due to injury, so he likely won’t be hitting the ground running, and Smith is a rookie who will still be finding his way in the NFL.
So Pacheco and Hunt might be the tandem the Chiefs go with more often than not, with Mitchell and Smith the change-ups.
But cut Hunt? To us, that doesn’t make much sense.
