DeAndre Washington signs one-year deal with Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs have added further competition at running back this offseason with the signing of DeAndre Washington.

According to Yahoo! Sports NFL reporter Terez Paylor, the Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to a deal with running back DeAndre Washington. Paylor notes it’s a one-year deal.

Washington recently entered free agency for the first time after playing out his rookie deal in Oakland. He first entered the NFL as the Oakland Raiders fifth round choice in the 2016 NFL Draft and spent his career-to-date there as a scatback who has shown solid hands for Derek Carr.

In his career, Washington has 282 carries for 1,122 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. He’s also caught an additional 88 passes for 613 yards and 1 receiving touchdown.

Washington, a Dallas native, now joins a crowded Chiefs backfield without any obvious alpha candidate. Damien Williams is presumedly in the driver’s seat for carries and playing time due to his performance down the stretch for the Chiefs, but he started the same way last season and came out playing horribly from the outset, giving way to LeSean McCoy for the first half of the year.

The Chiefs will also welcome back Darrel Williams from a season-ending injury and second-year back Darwin Thompson, who hopes to earn far more playing time than his rookie season. In addition, Mike Weber and Elijah McGuire are younger players hoping to impress the coaching staff.

The Chiefs are often linked to running backs in the NFL Draft due to a perceived need at the position, and it will be interesting to see how Washington’s acquisition affects the guesses there. Some mocks even have the Chiefs taking a running back in the first round, which would likely leave someone like Darrel Williams on the outs while Damien Williams and Washington compete for third-down touches. However, it’s a longshot that the Chiefs would use a first round selection—their first in three years—on such a poor overall value.