The Kansas City Chiefs have parted ways with a former first-round draft pick, and it felt like it was a long time coming.
Former Chiefs RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire is no longer with the team. This comes after Edwards-Helaire spent part of the 2024 NFL season on the Reserve/PUP list due to his struggles with PTSD and cyclic vomiting syndrome and another part of the season as a healthy scratch.
A first-round draft pick out of LSU in 2020, Edwards-Helaire struggled to live up to the high expectations associated with being a first-round draft pick. He appeared in 48 career regular-season games with Kansas City, including 32 games started. During that span, Edwards-Helaire has 441 attempts for 1,845 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He also caught 89 passes for 765 yards and seven touchdowns. He has just four career 100-yard rushing games in both regular season and postseason combined. He’s appeared in eight postseason games with two starts, carrying the ball 39 times for 220 yards and one touchdown.
Edwards-Helaire became a two-time Super Bowl champion in Kansas City in Super Bowl LVII and Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs declined Edwards-Helaire’s $5.461 million fifth-year option in 2024 but then re-signed him on a one-year deal ahead of the 2024 NFL season.
Edwards-Helaire took to X (formerly Twitter) to send a message to Chiefs Kingdom and react to the news.
Love ya KC! A family I didn’t know I needed, y’all made a Kid from Baton Rouge dreams come true! To Chiefs Kingdom , its all love and the support I had in troubling times will forever be unmatched from you guys! With love! -Clydro
When he was on the field, Edwards-Helaire gave it his all. However, his late tenure in Kansas City didn’t pan out because of his inability to get on the field and play football due to his physical and mental state. Hopefully, this isn’t the end of Edwards-Helaire’s football career and he’s able to find the peace he needs to get back to enjoying and playing the game he loves.
