The Bears aren’t openly pursing Kareem Hunt. But they could one day.
Monday, both coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace left open the possibility the Bears could sign the troubled former Chiefs running back, who was released by the Chiefs on Nov. 30 after video showed him pushing and kicking a woman in a Cleveland hotel last year.
While nothing is pending — “We’re not even close to that point,” Pace said — neither coach nor the GM ruled out a signing when asked a total of six questions about Hunt.
Nagy said he spoke with Hunt, who played for him last year in Kansas City, just last week on the phone.
“We had a good conversation,” Nagy said. “Here’s a kid that I spent a year coaching on offense. It’s a tough situation. I wanted to see — making sure that he’s OK but understanding, too, the situation that happened is unfortunate for everybody. He knows that.
“The only thing I cared about when I talked to him was literally his personal life, how he’s doing. It was a good conversation. He sounded good. But that’s it.”
Three days after the Chiefs released him for, they said, being untruthful about the incident, Hunt went unclaimed on waivers. He was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list. He has no pending criminal charges, but it’s unclear if he’ll face league discipline.
“Obviously there’s a lot of things off the field that he’s got to take care of,” Pace said.
Asked whether Hunt deserves a second chance, Nagy said he was “raised to give guys second chances, not third chances.”
Pace failed miserably with his last reclamation project. At the suggestion of then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and with the blessing of chairman George McCaskey, Pace signed troubled 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald in March 2015. He was arrested 62 days later on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment, and was immediately cut.
Pace was asked what impact that move might have on him signing Hunt.
“I think every one of those is unique,” he said. “Each one is different. The circumstances are always different. We’re not even there yet.”
