Could this Veteran Free Agent Be a Good Fit for Giants?

With the NFL Draft now over, the NFL will enter the latter phase of free agency, and veteran signings no longer count against the compensatory pick formula.  

While the New York Giants addressed several needs in the 2024 draft, one spot they can probably add to is running back, where the team could benefit from having a power back to join a group that includes Devin Singletary, draft pick Tyrone Tracy, Jr, Gary Brightwell, and Eric Gray.

One prospect who could be a fit for the Giants is Kareem Hunt, the former Chiefs and Browns running back who remains unsigned. 

The 28-year-old veteran running back has spent the last five seasons with the Browns, rushing for 2,285 yards and 25 touchdowns while averaging four yards per carry. Last season, Hunt appeared in 15 games and rushed for 411 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging only three yards per attempt. 

However, after Nick Chubb went down with a season-ending injury, Hunt wasn’t given the starting role–that instead went to Jerome Ford who had passed Hunt on the depth chart, prompting Hunt to request a trade.

Hunt, 5-11 and 216 pounds, was originally a third-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. That first season, Hunt was voted to the Pro Bowl and finished second for Offensive Rookie Year honors behind Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints. 

The Chiefs released him on November 30, 2018,  of him being physically assaulted by a woman and then responding by pushing the woman to the ground and then kicking her surfaced. Hunt wasn’t charged with a crime related to the video’s contents, and he later  for the sequence of events that led to his release.  

Hunt has appeared in 91 career regular-season games and has 1,030 rushing attempts for 4,4436 yards and 40 touchdowns. He also has been solid in the passing game, catching 226 out of 285 pass targets for 1,890 yards and 17 touchdowns. 

He also has career success rates (defined as achieving at least 40 percent of the required yardage on first down, 60 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third and fourth down) of 47.5 percent in the ground game and 50.2 percent in the passing game.

Hunt’s only 1,000-yard rushing season came during his rookie campaign in 2017, when he ran for 1,327 yards.