Jamaal Charles will visit with New Orleans Saints on Wednesday
By Matt Conner
The New Orleans Saints are taking a look at running back Jamaal Charles who remains a free agent after spending last year in Denver.
Last year at this time, Kansas City Chiefs fans were still grieving the loss of longtime running back Jamaal Charles. The team’s leading rusher had dealt with injuries his final couple seasons in K.C., so the move wasn’t entirely unexpected, yet it was still weird to see the Chiefs without Charles. Then came the Denver debacle.
Shortly after the 2017 NFL Draft, the Broncos ended up visiting with and then signing Charles to a one-year deal to help boslter their backfield. During the transition, Charles praised John Elway, calling him a childhood hero, and mentioned that he’d always wanted to play for the Broncos. Those quotes set Chiefs Kingdom on fire, and a fan base moved from sad to angry within hours.
One year later, most Chiefs fans will likely remain neutral about where Charles ends up next, especially if his visit with the New Orleans Saints goes well. As Adam Schefter reports, Charles is spending some time with Sean Payton and his staff on Wednesday in what is the first known free agent interest this offseason in Charles.
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Charles was rehabbing his knee once again a year ago, so it’s likely safe to say that Charles is healthier now than he’s been in some time. Last year as he worked his way back into game shape, he looked nice in limited duty for the Broncos. However he never really received a chance to shoulder a significant share of the carries in Denver despite a lack of better options, and Charles became a vocal critic of the game plan in Denver.
As for the Saints, they have a loaded backfield already with veteran Mark Ingram and second-year star Alvin Kamara, who won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award last season over the Chiefs own Kareem Hunt. The team also drafted Boston Scott in the sixth round, a running back out of Louisiana Tech. However, the Saints might be doing a bit of homework about the open market if they were to potentially trade Ingram. In any case, it cannot hurt to simply check out the goods on the shelf for any team.
Charles remains the Chiefs all-time leading rusher and will eventually be enshrined in the team’s Hall of Fame. Whether that happens sooner than later will depend on Charles’s ability to find meaningful work well beyond his Chiefs playing career.