[quasi]

Not surprising.

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/202...back-home.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Who says you can’t go home again?

Former Browns running back Kareem Hunt, a native of Cleveland, isn’t buying it, and he’s close to doing just that, a league source told cleveland.com.

Hunt, who signed as a free agent with the Browns in 2019 and was permitted to walk in free agency after last season, was close to signing with his hometown Browns on Wednesday to help replace his injured good buddy, Nick Chubb. He worked out for the Browns on Tuesday at CrossCountry Mortgage on Tuesday and was expected to sign on Wednesday.

Chubb, a four-time Pro Bowler, suffered what’s believed multiple torn ligaments in his knee during Monday night’s 26-22 loss to the Steelers when safety when Minkah Fitzpatrick crashed into and sent it contorting into an gruesome 90 degree angle.

Hunt, who played with the Browns from 2019-22, will serve as a complement to 2022 fifth-round pick Jerome Ford, who stepped in for Chubb on Monday night and comported himself well, rushing 16 times for 106 yards, and catching a 3 yard TD pass the play after Chubb went down.

Ford also sprinted 69 yards on a nifty cutback run to the Steelers’ 1-yard line, where current No. 2 back Pierre Strong Jr. punched it in from there on his second try.

The Browns spent Tuesday exploring their running back options, including possibly trading for Rams fourth-year pro Cam Akers and kicking the tires on Hunt. But Hunt was a “plug and play” proposition who knows the system and can play as soon as Sunday against the Titans.

After the Browns failed to make Hunt a free agent offer after the season, he visited several other teams, including the Saints, Colts and Vikings -- but remained on the street after the first two weeks of the season. As for the Browns, they felt it was time after last season to turn the backup duties over to Ford, who brings excellent speed, vision and good hands.

Hunt also also requested a trade last summer and staged a mini “hold-in” during training camp, and the alliance between him and his hometown team seemed to have run its course. But in Cleveland, he knows the scheme inside and out, and can catch the ball out of the backfield, which is a huge plus in this offense.

“Well, we’re working on (finding a back),” coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday. “Andrew (Berry) and the personnel department are working through options. You don’t, as you know, you don’t replace Nick Chubb. You just don’t do that. Great players in the league, you look around, they go out. It’s always not one person that replaces a player of his caliber. So everybody’s got to do a little bit more, a little bit more everywhere. But we’ll look at options there in terms of who we bring in.”

Originally a third-round pick of the Chiefs in 2017 out of Toledo, Hunt a graduate of Willoughby South on Cleveland’s east side, led the NFL with 1,327 yards and eight TDs as a rookie with the Chiefs, and caught 53 passes for 455 yards and three TDs.

In 2018, he was off to another fantastic start before video surfaced of his altercation with a woman in the hallway of his downtown Cleveland apartment building, and the Chiefs cut him in Week 12. In a one-on-one interview with cleveland.com the following season, he said he thought he’d never play football again and that he’d thrown away his career.

But then Browns GM John Dorsey signed him in 2019, and revived his career after an eight-game suspension to start the season. Hunt went on to excel in his role as Chubb’s backup and the Browns’ third-down back. In 49 games and nine starts with the Browns, he rushed 442 times for 1,874 yards (4.2 yard average) and 16 TDs. He also caught 132 passes for 973 yards and seven TDs.