CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns running back and Northeast Ohio native Kareem Hunt will remain playing for his hometown team this season after the NFL trade deadline passed Tuesday afternoon.
Hunt had drawn the eye of many as the deadline approached, with numerous teams needing a running back of his caliber and Hunt’s desire for a solidified contract. Hunt had hoped this offseason for a contract extension from the Browns, and briefly held out of training camp practice in an attempt to move those discussions along.
However, the Browns did not extend Hunt, and the running back, looking for a contract that he felt was fair to him, asked for a trade, which the team declined. Hunt quickly moved past the incident and returned his focus to the game.
On Monday, after the Browns' win over the Bengals, Hunt, who wore a Joker mask into the building for the Halloween night game and kept it on during his postgame interview in the locker room, accepted interest in being traded by the Browns—but did note the love he has for his teammates.
#Browns Kareem Hunt dressed up as The Joker. pic.twitter.com/PpjoVXlO5U
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) October 31, 2022
“I mean, I'm down for whatever. I'm a football player and it's a business. I'm ready to do whatever they decide with me. That's either go somewhere else or here, anything, it don't matter. I love the game of football,” Hunt said. “I love my teammates, Chubb and everybody else, D'Ernest and just the people around me.”
Hunt said that he wasn’t sure if his big game Monday, which saw him rush for 42 yards on 11 carries and bring in four passes for 30 yards, had changed the minds of the Browns front office in terms of trading him, but that if it was his last game in orange and brown, he’s happy with how it went.
“I'm from the city of Cleveland, so I guess I'm happy we won so, yes, that's the right way to go out,” Hunt said.
Now, with the 4 p.m. trade deadline come and gone and a deal not struck with any teams around the league, Hunt won’t have to think about the way he departs Cleveland for the time being. The running back is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but he and the Browns will cross that bridge another day.
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