Elijah Mitchell has been set free.
On Monday, Mitchell officially cleared waivers after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs, which means the veteran running back is now free to sign with any team he wants. Any player released following the NFL's trade deadline is subject to the waiver process, so the news of Mitchell's freedom was a late arrival, but it's here all the same.
It's hard to tell if anyone will be there to pick up Mitchell on the other side of the Kansas City chapter of his career. Perhaps the book is now closed. But in any event, even as a short story, it's an odd tale that never made sense from any angle.
Once the new league year began, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach immediately went to work in free agency with a couple of immediate signings—both former San Francisco 49ers. First was the announcement of a two-year deal for offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, a reasonable acquisition given the team's need to go all-in for potential answers at offensive tackle.
The K.C. chapter of Elijah Mitchell's career points to a glaring issue that's been haunting the Chiefs for quite some time.
Then came the signing of Mitchell, which was far less understandable. While Mitchell wasn't a major financial commitment, with a one-year deal worth up to $2.5 million, everything about it was awkward. Yes, the Chiefs needed running back help as much as any other position, but Mitchell was exactly the sort of back a team can add at the eleventh hour, shortly before training camp in case they still want an extra body.
Instead, Veach locked Mitchell up on the second day of the new league year, which insinuates that getting the RB under contract was one of his top orders of business. Never mind that injuries had robbed him of some of his effectiveness, or that he'd not even been relevant as an on-field asset since 2021. Mitchell didn't play a single snap in 2024 and managed less than 300 rushing yards in each of his previous two seasons. Again, why the urgency?
From there, however, the excitement waned the farther one got from the front office. By the time Andy Reid's coaching staff got their hands on Mitchell, it was clear he was as favored as, well, a running back with his resume should have been. On game days, Mitchell was relegated to the sidelines as a healthy scratch for every single contest but one, which is a shame because so many of his bonuses were tied to being active on game days.
Despite middling results from the entire backfield, Mitchell remained the unused car in the Chiefs offensive garage. Isiah Pacheco was injured for a spell but that didn't matter. He also wasn't that good when he was back on the field, but that failed to move the meter for Mitchell as well. Brashard Smith wasn't earning carries either, but Mitchell wasn't a reason why he was kept off the field. Instead, the Chiefs often abandoned the run when it worked, but mostly watched it sputter throughout the year.
After a year of myriad questions about player usage, Mitchell included, the Chiefs finally set him free with a couple of games left in the regular season. Now he faces free agency once again with every right to wonder what exactly went wrong in Kansas City. Why the disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff? Josh Uche, Jalen Royals, and a few others would like to know the answer if Mitchell figures it out.