Browns Owner Dee Haslam Talks Kareem Hunt's Signing, Future and Expectations

Cleveland Browns owner Dee Haslam is leaving Kareem Hunt’s future with the organization in the running back’s hands.

"He's in counseling working really hard," Haslam said, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. "It truly is up to him. We have high expectations for our players."

Trotter explained Hunt is only on the Browns because the Kansas City Chiefs released him in November after video surfaced of the running back shoving and kicking a woman in 2018. Cleveland signed him to a one-year contract with zero guaranteed money that can be worth up to $1.1 million.

Trotter noted Dee Haslem, Jimmy Haslam and general manager John Dorsey met with Hunt prior to bringing him aboard.

"You have to take the situation very, very, very seriously," Dee Haslam said. "We spent a lot of time and John spent a lot of time with Kareem and felt like he has potential as a person."

Cleveland will be without Hunt for the first eight games of the 2019 campaign after he was suspended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The Browns will surely rely on Nick Chubb as the primary running back during that time, much as they did for most of last season when the Georgia product ran for 996 yards as a rookie.

The Browns also have Duke Johnson in the backfield as a receiving threat.