The Detroit Lions added former Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco for added depth after parting ways with David Montgomery , but they may need to find a different former Chiefs back to take his place.
The Lions revealed this week that Pacheco, already on injured reserve for a back injury, needed to undergo surgery and would miss even more time. With the team's No. 2 back now gone for a significant portion of the season, some analysts have suggested they look to one of the top running backs still available in free agency — former Chiefs back Kareem Hunt .
The Lions had already taken a look at Hunt before the start of the regular season, hosting him for a workout in late August. Though Hunt left without a contract, the new prognosis for Pacheco could prompt the team to revisit the idea of signing him.
Reporter Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports suggested at the time that Hunt's visit could have been a dire sign for Pacheco's availability. Payton noted that Hunt would be a good counterpart to top Lions back Jahmyr Gibbs if Pacheco was going to miss a long stretch.
"First off, maybe Isiah Pacheco's injury is worse than we thought," Payton wrote. "Lions coach Dan Campbell talked about how they believed they would get him back by Week 1. Now I don't know anymore. Hunt could be a nice one-two punch with Jahmyr Gibbs because Hunt does the same things Pacheco does, although I do believe Pacheco does them better. "
NFL reporter Ian Rapoport suggested this week that Pacheco would miss the majority of the regular season, saying the Lions don't expect him to be able to return until the end of the calendar year.
"Isiah Pacheco had surgery to remove a body that was pressing on a nerve in his back, source said. It's a 12 week recovery with a chance he's back by early in December," Rapoport shared in a post on X .
Lions head coach Dan Campbell also confirmed that Pacheco would miss a long stretch, though he held back from putting an exact timeline on the veteran running back's recovery.
"It's going to be a while," Campbell said. "Yeah, it's going to be a while. I mean, I really can't (provide a timeline). It's going to be a significant amount of time, though."
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