Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.

Takeaways from Browns signing of Kareem Hunt …

Let’s say everything goes right.

Kareem Hunt makes all the right moves to change himself and win the trust of the Browns and the NFL. He earns his second chance and is reinstated by the NFL. He gets back on the field and is incorporated into the Browns’ offense.

Then what happens?

How would play time be split between Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson and Hunt?

“We always talk about having competitive depth,” said GM John Dorsey. “That’s a good thing to have.”

If Hunt rehabilitates his image and becomes a Browns player in good standing, it’s reasonable to assume the Browns don’t see him as a role player or rotational back.

This is a player who filled a vital role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense as rookie in 2017, leading the NFL in rushing with 1,327 yards and adding 53 receptions for 455 yards -- before Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback.

Through 11 games in his second season – with Mahomes – Hunt was on pace for 1,198 rushing yards, 38 receptions and 550 receiving yards.

And speaking of the Chiefs’ offense, it was interesting to hear new offensive coordinator Todd Monken reference Kansas City as the offense that has most embraced the concepts popular among the most potent college offenses.

“When you look at what teams are doing now, if you say: do I see the college game’s influence on the NFL? Without a doubt. You see that,” Monken said. “Probably the team you see it most with is Kansas City.

“Kansas City’s run game – I wouldn’t say exclusively – is a high number of RPOs [run-pass options] or ways to get it out of [Mahomes’] hands, and he is good at it and they have good skill guys around him. If you wanted to match up what some college football teams look like, you would probably say Kansas City.”

So if the Browns are trending under the Freddie Kitchens-Monken duo towards the Kansas City offense, does the signing of Hunt make even more sense to you?

No guarantees: Dorsey said “there’s no guarantees” Hunt even makes it to the field. And the contract he signed reflects that.

According to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Hunt’s contract with the Browns has no gurantees but can exceed $1 million. But that will be reduced by the number of games he is under suspension.

After 2019, Hunt would be a restricted free agent. The Browns could easily retain him by giving him the third-, second-, or first-round contract tenders. The Browns thus would receive one of those draft pick compensations if another team signed Hunt in the 2020 transaction season.

Essentially, by signing Hunt to a contract now, the Browns can control Hunt at least for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. By then, they could either re-sign him to a multi-year deal or cut bait.

Whither Chubb and Duke?: Then there’s the issue of chemistry.

One of the earmarks of the Browns’ offensive turnaround under Kitchens was the close-knit camaraderie that developed organically among the offensive nucleus – Baker Mayfield, Chubb, Johnson, and receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Antonio Callaway and Breshad Perriman.

For what it’s worth, none of these players has reacted to the signing of Hunt on their Twitter accounts.

Mayfield and Chubb are very close as a result of rooming together as rookies in training camp and experiencing their first season together.

When Mayfield was asked about the addition of Monken, a product of the Mike Gundy “Air Raid” offense at Oklahoma State, Mayfield cracked, “They obviously love throwing the ball. I think we’re going to have to find ways to convince him to hand the ball off to Chubb.”

The addition of Hunt ultimately could mean the demise of Johnson.

Johnson had a very peculiar season in 2018. In June, Dorsey signed him to a three-year contract for $15.6 million, which included about $7.57 million in guaranteed money. This was seen as a logical commitment to the productive third-down back.

But Johnson proceeded to produce career-lows in rushing attempts (40) and yards (201), and receptions (47) and receiving yards (429). Johnson had all of his six touchdowns (three rushing and receiving) in the eight games after Kitchens took over as coordinator, but seldom a week went by when Johnson wasn’t questioned about his lack of touches.

When Dorsey was asked if the addition of Hunt made Johnson expendable, his answer was ominous.

“I think Duke Johnson is a fine football player,” Dorsey said. “But what it does is you have three very quality, really four quality individuals [including Dontrell Hilliard]. You have three veterans on there now.

“I don't think it makes him expendable yet. What you have to do is you have to go back and research your options and see moving forward what's best for the organization.”

Johnson’s new contract actually is quite team-friendly in 2019. His relatively modest base salary of $1.8 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 15. Johnson’s base salary doubles to $3.6 million in 2020.

So when Dorsey used the word “yet,” he probably meant Hunt has to prove himself as a dependable contributor before the Browns would consider moving Johnson.

That would depend on several factors – the terms of the NFL’s discipline of Hunt, his progress in winning the Browns’ trust, and his health.

It’s more likely the Browns would move Johnson after 2019 … but you never know.

In the house: While Hunt officially is on the Reserve/Commissioner Exempt List, because it is prior to the offseason program Hunt can voluntarily visit the Browns facility, according to Dorsey.

When the NFL concludes its investigation of Hunt’s three apparent violations of the league personal conduct policy and disciplines Hunt with a suspension, Hunt will be able to participate in the team’s offseason program, organized team activities, minicamps, training camp and even play in preseason games. A suspension would not take effect until the start of the regular season.

Asked if Hunt would expect to report to the beginning of the team’s offseason conditioning program on April 1, Dorsey said, “I would think so, yeah.”