Clark Hunt: “Never say never” on Jamaal Charles reunion

Terez Paylor asked Clark Hunt about a few items of note at the NFL owner’s meetings including a future reunion with Jamaal Charles.

When the Kansas City Chiefs cut Jamaal Charles earlier this offseason, no one was surprised. Coming off of another injury riddled season, Charles had become cost-prohibitive for a team up against the constraints of the salary cap. While some fans wondered if the team might restructure his deal, ultimately John Dorsey and the rest of the Chiefs executives decided to part ways and move on from the Charles era—saying goodbye to the all-time leading rusher in franchise history.

Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star is at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix this week, and he asked team owner Clark Hunt about a few topics. Among other topics, he asked Hunt about Charles.

Paylor’s question is interesting because of the preface, noting that Charles will not be back this year. The team issued statements honoring Charles for his history with the organization without seeing to leave any sort of door open to a return, unlike the way that Dorsey mentioned he’d like to have Dontari Poe back at the right price. Upon Charles release, in other words, the Chiefs were officially ready to turn the corner.

Paylor seems to insinuate this much, despite Charles still being a free agent. Charles visited the Seattle Seahawks earlier in free agency, but John Schneider had already signed veteran back Eddie Lacy before Charles even had a chance to interview or work out. If anything, allowing Charles to visit seemed like an exercise in futility even though they still followed through on a promised visit.

Since then the market has been quiet for Charles. None of this is surprising, however. It makes perfect sense for all 32 NFL teams to not even think about Jamaal Charles until training camp in August. Charles will need time to heal up and prove he’s healthy, and teams will also want to see how the NFL Draft shakes out when it comes pre-loaded with a robust amount of options in the running game. As teams sift through choices and undrafted free agents, some will feel much better about potentially inviting Charles in for a visit.

But clearly the Chiefs won’t be on that list. No one at this point seems to think so. When it comes to a reunion down the road, Hunt towed the line with “never say never,” which is the only thing it makes sense to say. But signing Charles after he’s logged another year or more of carries makes no sense if they’re not willing to sign him now—when the need to add someone next to Spencer Ware is so clear.

If the Chiefs aren’t signing Charles now, they’re not going to in the future—unless it provides a chance for a great running back to retire with the team that drafted him.