Kareem Hunt’s future with the Browns may be a little more uncertain

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Kareem Hunt’s future with the Browns is uncertain for two reasons:

1.His contract is up, and he will be a restricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 18, and,

2.His two greatest advocates, John Dorsey and Freddie Kitchens, are no longer with the club.

Now there’s another reason for the Browns to ponder Hunt’s short- and long-term future with them.

A police citation for speeding at about 12:24 p.m. Tuesday resulted in the discovery of small amounts of marijuana in his car.

Hunt was cited for speeding only and was sent on his way.

According to an incident report filed by Rocky River police, small amounts of marijuana were located in three different places in a backpack on the back seat of the car. The backpack was kept for evidence.

So if Hunt weren’t cited for possession of an illegal substance, what’s the big deal?

For one, it’s a red flag that perhaps Hunt’s ongoing rehab hit a snag.

When Hunt was suspended for eight games in 2019 for violations of the league personal conduct policy, conditions for his reinstatement called for counseling twice a week. If substance abuse counseling were involved, Hunt may have been moved to the league’s substance abuse program. And if that were the case, Hunt could have committed a violation even without being cited for marijuana possession.

A spokesman for the NFL issued the following comment on the Hunt incident: “We are aware of the matter but will decline further comment.”

The Browns issued a similar statement.

If the Browns are committed to keeping Hunt, the possible red flag could scare teams from competing for Hunt as a restricted free agent.

The Browns can reserve first-refusal rights by tendering Hunt a one-year contract. The tender would also reserve them a first-, second- or third-round draft choice as compensation if they chose not to match another team’s contract offer.

In the end, this may be no big deal to the Browns if their conviction on Hunt is as strong as it was under Dorsey and Kitchens. Those two men attended Hunt’s baptism in May as a show of support for him.

Then on June 30 there was an incident outside a Cleveland night club that resulted in a police visit, but no citation.

Hunt called that incident a misunderstanding, but also a wake-up call to him.

“The thing is, I’m going to learn from everything and not make the same mistake again,” he said in August.

Ultimately, driving with small amounts of marijuana is bad optics for a player whose career was stopped cold by misbehavior once before.

And it was just another headache for new coach Kevin Stefanski to deal with.

On Thursday, Stefanski met with receiver Odell Beckham Jr., partly to learn about Beckham's erratic behavior at the LSU college championship game that were captured on video and went viral.

And down goes Paton: According to reports, George Paton, the leading contender for the Browns general manager vacancy, has taken himself out of the running.

The Minnesota Vikings assistant GM interviewed twice for the job and was considered the front-runner because of his 13-year association with Stefanski with the Vikings.

Paton departed from his second interview on Wednesday without accepting the job. Later that night, Stefanski was vague in commenting about the prospects of Paton rejoining him with the Browns.

It would seem that Andrew Berry inherits the front-runner role for the position now.

According to a source close to Berry, the former Browns vice president of player personnel really wants the opportunity to prove himself after being part of the regime that produced a 1-31 record under former coach Hue Jackson prior to Dorsey in 2016-17. Berry is a vice president of football administration with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The only other candidate interviewed has been Monti Ossenfort, director of college scouting for the New England Patriots.