Kareem Hunt is still finding work in his late 30s of NFL relevance, and Monday brought his most notable free-agent meeting yet. Adam Schefter broke the news that Hunt sat down with the Lions, a visit that instantly matters for anyone who's watched Detroit's running back room shrink this offseason.
Free-agent RB Kareem Hunt visited today with the Detroit Lions.
The timing lines up. The Lions traded David Montgomery to the Texans this offseason, leaving Jahmyr Gibbs as the clear lead back after he signed his extension. Gibbs is a home-run threat, but Detroit has leaned on a physical complement to him for years, and Montgomery's exit opened exactly the kind of role Hunt has built a career around.
Hunt knows how to be that guy. Kansas City drafted him in the 3rd round back in 2017, and he immediately led the league in rushing as a rookie before a much-publicized release sent him to Cleveland. He spent 2019 through 2023 with the Browns, then returned to the Chiefs, where he carried the ball 163 times for 611 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2025 while still catching passes out of the backfield.
Kareem Hunt visited today with the Detroit Lions, per @AdamSchefter
That's the profile Detroit needs behind Gibbs: a proven short-yardage and goal-line hammer who's played in big games and won't need to learn the offense on the fly. Hunt isn't going to threaten for 1,000 yards at this stage of his career, but plenty of contenders would happily take a rotational back who's caught passes for a decade and scored a touchdown almost every other week last season.
Nothing is signed yet, and a visit is just a visit. The Lions could still be doing their homework across the free-agent running back market, and Hunt is presumably taking other meetings too. But for a Detroit backfield that just lost its bruiser, adding a name like Hunt's would be an easy way to plug the gap without disrupting the room around Gibbs.
Fantasy managers should keep half an eye on this one. A depth chart change behind an ascending back like Gibbs usually means nothing for redraft value, but it's the kind of veteran-vet pairing that can turn into real touches if Gibbs needs a breather or Detroit wants to lean into short-yardage football in December. Worth watching if Detroit makes it official.