Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt will soon be former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt. And he will be exposed to waivers. And so the next question becomes whether anyone will claim him on waivers.
On Tuesday, Washington surprisingly claimed former 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster on waivers. Destined for the Commissioner Exempt list, Washington chose to pay Foster $257,000 over the balance of the season in order to secure dibs on future services in 2019.
But for the Foster kerfuffle, there’s a chance one or more teams would have pounced on Hunt. The reaction to the acquisition of Foster could keep all teams from paying Hunt $33,000 per week to not play in order to have the rights to the balance of his rookie contract when he’s cleared to play.
Surely, he’ll eventually be cleared to play. While Hunt’s misconduct merits punishment, it doesn’t merit banishment. (Then again, Colin Kaepernick’s conduct, which wasn’t even misconduct, resulted in banishment.) At some point, the league will impose punishment on Hunt, Hunt will serve an unpaid suspension, and Hunt then will be able to play.
This isn’t an over-the-hill Ray Rice, whose best football days were behind him. This is a guy who led the league in rushing as a rookie. He’ll get his second chance somewhere, just not in Kansas City.
Potential candidates include, as mentioned last night, the Eagles. Also, the Browns currently are run by the guy who drafted Hunt in Kansas City. And what if Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy ends up coaching his own team (which could be Cleveland)?
Plus, Washington can never be ruled out, because Washington already has proven that talent continues to trump whether and to what extent a player has gotten in trouble. And Hunt clearly has talent. If that didn’t matter, guys like Tyreek Hill and Joe Mixon wouldn’t currently be employed by NFL teams.