Andy Reid will be back for more in the 2025 NFL season, counting on both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce to lead the Kansas City Chiefs back to glory days after a disappointing ending to the 2024 campaign.
However, the team may have to make tough decisions in order to get back to the top. According to Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report, Mahomes and Kelce could lose running back Kareem Hunt due to salary cap reasons.
“After he led the team in rushing last season, the Kansas City Chiefs opted to bring back Kareem Hunt on a one-year, $1.5 million deal,” Knox wrote. “However, Kansas City also signed Elijah Mitchell before drafting former SMU running back Brashard Smith, who has intrigued the front office. Assuming Isiah Pacheco is back to pre-injury form, Hunt could be the odd man out. Releasing him would save Kansas City $632,353 in cap space.”
Kareem Hunt’s impact with the Chiefs in 2024
Of course, parting with Hunt would be a surprising decision by the Chiefs considering the impact he made under Reid in his return to Kansas City in 2024. Last year, Hunt led the team in rushing with 728 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 42 first downs.
Hunt, who was drafted by the Chiefs in the same year as Mahomes (2017), was released by the team in his second season in the NFL after a video of him assaulting a woman came to surface.
He went on to spend five seasons with the Cleveland Browns, until the opportunity of coming back to Arrowhead arose. With Isiah Pacheco fracturing his fibula in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season, Reid and the Chiefs felt it was the right time to reunite with Hunt, a free agent by then.
A crowded RB room in Kansas City for 2025
The Chiefs finished the season with both Hunt and Pacheco on their backfield, but the position has even more depth now that they signed former San Francisco 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell this offseason.
On top of that, Kansas City made yet another addition by drafting Brashard Smith out of SMU. Knox notes that the RB room is crowded, which is why he sees a breakup with Hunt as a sacrifice the Chiefs can afford to make, especially since it will save them more than half a million.
SURVEY If the Chiefs had to part with one RB, who should it be?
If the Chiefs had to part with one RB, who should it be?
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That said, it would be a surprising loss for Mahomes and Kelce in offense, considering the way he played last year. Only time will tell whether Hunt gets to play out the one-year extension signed this offseason, or if the Chiefs ultimately come up with a change of plans.