Despite another new regime coming to Cleveland and Kareem Hunt running into more off-field trouble, the Pro Bowl running back expects to stay with the Browns for the 2020 season. He expects to be back with the Browns via high-level RFA tender or an extension, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (video link), and wants to remain with his hometown team. Hunt signed a one-year deal with Cleveland in 2019, but because he has just three years of service time, the controversial ex-Chief is not yet eligible for unrestricted free agency. To keep Hunt, the Browns will likely have to apply a first- or second-round tender on him. Hunt became available after a video showed him shoving and kicking a woman at a Cleveland hotel in 2018, leading to the Chiefs waiving him. He was pulled over while driving with marijuana in his vehicle last month. New Browns GM Andrew Berry was not with the team when John Dorsey signed Hunt, but his offseason comments point to the team moving to keep its Hunt-Nick Chubb backfield together for next season.
Here is the latest from the Ohio teams:
- Joe Burrow‘s Bengals interest has come up at multiple points this offseason, with rumors circulating that the Ohio native may not be thrilled about going to the team that holds the No. 1 overall pick. But Burrow’s stance thus far likely points to nothing being decided until he meets with Bengals brass on the customary pre-draft tour — Combine visit, facility visit, workout — before he decides on his course of action, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes (video link). Burrow’s “I do have leverage” comment was not an interjection but merely repeating a reporter’s question as part of a response. No player has maneuvered his way away from a team with the top pick since Eli Manning did so when the Chargers held the 2004 top pick.
- Longtime Cowboys assistant Ben Bloom will resurface in Cleveland. The Browns are hiring Bloom as a senior defensive assistant, according to Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio (Twitter link). Bloom started his NFL coaching career with the Browns, working on Eric Mangini‘s two staffs from 2009-10. He spent nine seasons on Jason Garrett‘s Cowboys staffs, the past two coaching Dallas’ linebackers.
- Some around the league view the Patriots as a fit for nine-year Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. The Bengals, who are expected to draft Burrow at No. 1, plan to help Dalton work out a trade.