Cut by the Chiefs late in his fifth season with the team, Clyde Edwards-Helaire has a new home. The former first-round pick cleared waivers but is on his way to New Orleans as a free agent.
Edwards-Helaire is signing with the Saints, NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill reports. This comes after the Saints saw Alvin Kamara leave their Week 15 game with a groin injury. With the Saints clinging to “In the Hunt” status, Kamara is not certain to be available in Week 16. The team has some insurance, albeit in a player who has not suited up this season.
Edwards-Helaire is a Baton Rouge, La., native and played at LSU. He will follow ex-teammate Tyrann Mathieu as a Louisiana native-turned-LSUer on the Saints’ roster. Foster Moreau followed that path last year as well. Edwards-Helaire, however, should not be expected to play a comparable role. He will begin on the practice squad, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz adds.
The Chiefs activated Edwards-Helaire from the reserve/non-football illness list in October but did not use him in any games this season. Kareem Hunt returned and became the team’s primary Isiah Pacheco replacement, with Samaje Perine and Carson Steele filling in behind the veteran. Edwards-Helaire now joins a Saints team that has some depth behind Kamara already, though it has taken two Kendre Miller IR activations to secure it.
New Orleans took advantage of the NFL’s new summer IR-return designation with Miller, who missed most of their training camp and preseason with a hamstring injury. The 2023 third-round pick then went back on IR in November, before returning earlier this month. Miller played ahead of Jamaal Williams, replacing Kamara once he went down. Williams remains on New Orleans’ 53-man roster, as does Jordan Mims.
Kansas City drafted Edwards-Helaire 32nd overall in 2020, and Damien Williams‘ subsequent COVID-19 opt-out cleared the runway for the rookie. The 5-foot-7 LSU alum was not able to live up to the billing, struggling with injuries and eventually being replaced by Pacheco, a 2022 seventh-rounder. Edwards-Helaire posted 803 rushing yards as a rookie but never approached that number again. In 15 games last season, he totaled 223 rushing yards. He resided behind Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon on Kansas City’s depth chart in Super Bowl LVIII.
The Saints will nonetheless take a flier on a once-highly regarded prospect who is still just 25. Edwards-Helaire will attempt to make his season debut soon, as the Saints (and a number of fantasy GMs) will hope Kamara can return. Kamara, 29, did well to land nearly $20MM guaranteed at signing on an extension earlier this season. That gives him some security should this be an injury that requires missed games.