Former Chiefs First-Round Pick Inks Deal to Remain in NFC: Report

New Orleans Saints running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, has re-signed with New Orleans on a one-year deal, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on February 13.

As a former first-round pick of the Chiefs, Edwards-Helaire’s rookie season — which consisted of 1,100 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns — was an outlier in terms of his standing as Kansas City’s clear-cut RB1. He has missed a total of 33 regular season games over five seasons and has failed to eclipse 600 rushing yards since the 2020 season.

After battling with PTSD during the 2024 offseason and for a chunk of the 2024 season, Edwards-Helaire was activated from the non-football illness list (NFI) on October 15 with the hopes of helping the two-time defending Super Bowl champions pull off a three-peat. Instead, CEH wasn’t active for any game after he was activated from NFI and was released by Kansas City on December 16.

On December 18, the Saints signed Edwards-Helaire to their practice squad and elevated him to the active roster on December 28. He played in two regular season games for them and registered 13 carries for 46 yards as well as three catches on five targets for 24 yards.

Given that CEH is a Baton Rouge, LA native, it makes all the sense in the world for the veteran back to re-sign with New Orleans, where he will battle for snaps behind Alvin Kamara under new head coach Kellen Moore.

X Users React to Saints Re-Signing Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Users on X, formerly Twitter, reacted to the Saints re-signing CEH.

“Good for Clyde. Well he didn’t live up to the first round expectations, we really loved him here in KC and he did provide some great moments and is definitely a running back you want on your roster to compliment the team,” one person wrote.

“Interesting move for the Saints! Clyde Edwards-Helaire has had an up-and-down career, but if he can stay healthy and get back to the form he showed in his rookie year, he could provide solid depth in their backfield,” another person wrote. “The Saints might be looking for that extra spark in the running game, especially if they want to compete in a tough NFC South.”

“I love this for CEH. Staying home,” another person wrote. “Should see the field in 2025. Probably not a viable fantasy target, but I have heard that they like him a lot.”

Chiefs Should Look For More RB Help in 2025

During the 2024 regular season, the Chiefs ranked 22nd in the NFL in total rushing yards (1,790), 30th in yards per carry (4.0), and 19th in rushing first downs (106), per NFL’s official website.

A large factor that played into the team’s lack of explosiveness in the run game was the absence of Isiah Pacheco. He suffered a fibula injury during Week 2 of the regular season and missed nine games as a result. But even after he returned he did not look like the explosive version of himself that we saw through the first two years of his NFL career.

Pacheco, 25, has one year remaining on his rookie deal, and the team’s primary ball carrier during the postseason, Kareem Hunt, is a pending free agent. That’s why the Chiefs would be wise to add more talent to that room during the offseason, whether it be through free agency or the draft, as a means to address the position long term.