How Cleveland Browns Should Proceed with Kareem Hunt Following His Trade Request

The Cleveland Browns have arguably the league's best running back tandem in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. However, one of the two isn't particularly happy with his contract situation.

Hunt, who is entering the final season of a two-year, $12 million deal, is looking for an extension. He has requested a trade and spent the early portions of training camp holding out of team drills, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

"If they don't ante up, he wants out—but they have no plans of trading him," Cabot added.

The good news for Browns fans is that Hunt returned to team drills Sunday. While he presumably still wants a new contract—in Cleveland or elsewhere—he doesn't appear likely to hold out into the regular season.

That means the Browns can use Hunt early and often in 2022. However, they should still keep an open mind when it comes to dealing him between now and the Nov. 1 trade deadline.

Assessing Hunt's Value in 2022

It makes sense why Cleveland would be reluctant to move Hunt before the start of the regular season. When healthy, he's one of the centerpieces of the offense and is more of a 1B to Chubb's 1A.

Chubb is the starter and the Browns' bell-cow, but Hunt is a tremendous dual threat who impacts both the rushing and passing games. He has started in only nine of his 32 games with the Browns, but he has tallied 1,406 rushing yards, 97 receptions, 763 receiving yards and 19 combined touchdowns.

On a per-game basis, Hunt has averaged roughly 68 scrimmage yards. While that isn't an eye-popping average, it's well within the range of a good NFL starter—1,156 yards when prorated over a 17-game season.

And Hunt has rarely seen a starter's workload in Cleveland. He hasn't played more than 60 percent of the offensive snaps in a season with the Browns. He played 65 percent with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017 and led the league with 1,327 rushing yards.

As a change-of-pace complementary option, Hunt has been an important piece of the offensive puzzle in Cleveland. His role could be even more important this year because Cleveland is staring down the possibility of having journeyman Jacoby Brissett as a full-time starter.

The Browns traded for Deshaun Watson this offseason, then dealt 2018 first overall pick Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers. However, Watson's availability is in question at the moment.

Watson initially faced 24 lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct. While he has settled 23 of those cases, he was handed a six-game suspension by the league and NFLPA’s jointly appointed disciplinary officer Sue L.Robinson following a hearing in June.

The NFL has appealed that punishment and will send the case to former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey for reconsideration. Harvey will decide whether to uphold, reduce or extend the suspension, and his decision will be final. According to ESPN, the league is seeking "an indefinite suspension that would be a minimum of one year."

If Watson's suspension is extended, the Browns will likely utilize Brissett as a game manager in a run-heavy offense. Having both Chubb and Hunt available would be a major boon.

A Trade Could Still Be the Best Long-Term Play

Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)

While Hunt would be a significant on-field asset for the Browns in 2022, they must decide whether they can be legitimate contenders with Brissett under center. If not, dealing Hunt might make more sense for them.

Hunt is making $6 million annually now, and he likely would want at least that on his next deal. While Cleveland leads the league with $47.2 million in cap space, things will be much tighter next offseason, even if the Browns roll over a large chunk of 2022 cap room.

Without rollover—and Watson's suspension—considered, Cleveland is projected to be $16.5 million over the cap in 2023. Watson is set to have a $46 million cap hit next year, but his $690,000 base salary for 2022 could be tolled to 2023 if he's suspended for this entire season.

The Browns shouldn't be looking to invest $6-plus million annually in their No. 2 back when their depth behind Chubb is strong. They also have D'Ernest Johnson, 2021 sixth-round pick Demetric Felton and 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford on the roster.

Johnson is only on a one-year deal, but Cleveland does have a succession plan in place for Hunt. There's a real chance that he will depart in free agency next spring, leaving the Browns hoping for a compensatory pick in return.

As NFL Media's Lance Zierlein explained, compensatory picks are determined by a "league formula that takes into account a player's average salary per year (APY), snap count and postseason awards," while teams must have "more or better qualifying free agents lost than gained in a particular year." If Hunts leaves in free agency next year, Cleveland would likely end up with a Day 3 selection in 2024 at best.

Getting a 2023 fourth-round pick or higher for Hunt via trade should intrigue the Browns, who are light on draft capital after acquiring Watson.

The Browns are set to surrender first- and third-round picks in the 2023 draft as part of the Watson trade. While they'll also receive a compensatory pick after the Minnesota Vikings hired former Cleveland vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new general manager, an extra third- or fourth-rounder would be significant.

The question is whether the Browns can find a trade partner willing to deal that type of a pick.

Where Hunt Could End Up

Could Rams GM Les Snead view Hunt as an answer to L.A.'s backfield questions? (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

To maximize Hunt's trade value, the Browns should want to send him to a team that can offer a prominent role.

The Atlanta Falcons are a logical landing spot since they don't currently have a bell-cow back on the roster. Cordarrelle Patterson is a fine dual-threat complement, but he isn't an every-down ball-carrier, and his efficacy waned down the stretch in 2021.

Patterson did not top 30 rushing yards in any of his final four games, and he averaged only 2.2 yards per carry during that span. Atlanta's other backs include Damien Williams, who opted out of the 2020 season and had only 40 carries with the Chicago Bears in 2021, and rookie fifth-round pick Tyler Allgeier.

Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has experience working with an every-down back after coaching Derrick Henry as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator. Hunt could be the high-volume back that the Falcons currently lack.

The Los Angeles Rams are another intriguing potential option. While the Rams do have Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson, both suffered significant injuries last year and were woefully inefficient in the postseason. Akers averaged only 2.6 yards per carry in the playoffs, while Henderson averaged 1.8.

The Rams used a fifth-round pick on Notre Dame product Kyren Williams in this year's draft. But at 5'9" and 194 pounds, he's undersized and ill-suited for a significant workload.

Rams general manager Les Snead hasn't shied away from trading for talented veterans. Hunt could provide some much-needed juice to the ground game (4.6 yards-per-carry career average) as Los Angeles makes its bid to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

The Chicago Bears could also worth calling, as they have a serviceable starter in David Montgomery and a good backup in Khalil Herbert, but they otherwise lack weapons for second-year quarterback Justin Fields. Hunt's ability to run routes out of the backfield would give Fields arguably his most reliable target outside of budding receiver Darnell Mooney.

When Hunt played with a healthy Mayfield in 2020, he provided a passer rating of 121.7 when targeted. That dipped to 92.5 last season, but Mayfield suffered a torn labrum in Week 2, and his numbers dropped across the board.

Hunt also battled a calf injury in 2021 and missed a total of nine games.

Why a Trade Probably Won't Happen Before Week 1

The Browns have told Hunt that they don't plan on trading him, according to Cabot. That could change once the season begins, though.

Hunt will need to prove that he's at 100 percent before another team will be willing to deal a high draft pick for him. Unless Cleveland is willing to give him an extensive preseason workload, that won't happen until after Week 1.

Even if he's fully healthy, Hunt's value might not peak until closer to the trade deadline anyway. Teams like the Rams and Falcons will want to see what they have before committing substantial draft capital to an external option.

For example, if the Rams find out that Akers and/or Henderson isn't cutting it, Hunt could become a more enticing trade target. The same holds true for teams like the Houston Texans and Miami Dolphins, who are sorting through running back battles in camp but don't have a clear-cut starter on the roster. An unexpected injury could suddenly leave a potential contender scrambling for running back help, too.

For now, the Browns would be well-served by going into the regular season with Hunt on the roster and playing the waiting game. They have to remain open to dealing him, though, because the right offer could come at any time.

Hunt's future might not be in Cleveland, but that doesn't mean that he can't provide the Browns with value on his way out.

Cap and contract information via Spotrac. Advanced statistics from Pro Football Reference