Clyde Edwards-Helaire had his fifth-year option declined by the Chiefs last year. But the running back nevertheless elected to re-sign with the franchise as an unrestricted free agent, putting pen to paper on Monday.
Edwards-Helaire told reporters after officially signing his contract that Kansas City is “home” to him now and he felt like the Chiefs remained the best fit for him.
“I just knew this was the perfect place for me to not only become a three-time Super Bowl champion but continue the legacy of the Chiefs and continue the things that I’m doing as a player,” Edwards-Helaire said, via Pete Sweeney of ArrowheadPride.com.
After dealing with injuries in 2022 and not playing in the postseason, Edwards-Helaire says he understood Kansas City’s process in declining his fifth-year option. The running back was the No. 32 overall pick in 2020.
“You really just look at things and call it a spade, a spade for a lot of things,” Edwards-Helaire said. “I wasn’t the starter. Picking up a fifth-year option for a guy who was in rotation and just looking at the number, looking at things, looking at cap space, as a football guy and a player, you see those things, and some people call it the writing on the wall — [but] you got to call it the actual sport that we’re playing.”
Edwards-Helaire ended up playing 15 games with three starts in 2023, recording 223 rushing yards with a touchdown. He also caught 17 passes for 188 yards with a TD.
Now he’ll continue to play with the team that drafted him in 2024.
