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Chiefs waive running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Jesse Newell, The Kansas City Star on

Published in Football

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs waived former first-round running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, according to the NFL’s transactions page.

That move potentially ends Edwards-Helaire’s five-year tenure with Kansas City.

The 25-year-old wrote about the transaction Monday afternoon, sending a message to Chiefs fans on X (formerly Twitter).

“Love ya Kansas City! A family I didn’t know I needed, y’all made a Kid from Baton Rouge dreams come true!” Edwards-Helaire wrote. “To Chiefs Kingdom , its all love and the support I had in troubling times will forever be unmatched from you guys! With love!”

The Chiefs selected the LSU product Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd and final pick of the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

After that, injuries frequently affected his pro career. Edward-Helaire’s best season was his rookie year in 2020, when he rushed for 803 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games.

A locker-room favorite, Edwards-Helaire played a reserve role for the Chiefs the last two seasons. His biggest game last season was against the New England Patriots, as he filled in for the injured Isiah Pacheco and had 101 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s 24-10 road victory.

Edwards-Helaire re-signed with the Chiefs this offseason but was never active on game day. He battled post-traumatic stress disorder in training camp, which stemmed from a previous shooting incident he was involved in at LSU.

 

The running back started this season on the “reserve/non-football illness” list, which required him to miss the first four contests.

Edwards-Helaire was also one of a few players who appeared in the recently released Hallmark movie about the Chiefs. In it, he portrayed himself on the field alongside teammate George Karlaftis.

“Can’t pass up too many opportunities to do something like that,” Edwards-Helaire told The Kansas City Star about the experience.

Edwards-Helaire, who won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, appears to be part of a running-back roster crunch. Kansas City started the season with Pacheco and rookie Carson Steele on the roster, then signed former Denver Broncos running back Samaje Perine before the season began.

After Pacheco went down with an injury in Week 2, the Chiefs added Kareem Hunt, who was the team’s workhorse back for the next few weeks.

Since Pacheco’s return, he and Hunt have split carries, while Perine has been utilized in a third-down back role.

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©2024 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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