For many teams (and players) in the National Football League, the 2024 season is basically over. The games are meaningless. The fortunes have been set. The bubbles have been burst, and it's only a matter of time until the clock strikes midnight in early January and hundreds of players can look forward to the long offseason.
But even for those players languishing on teams without playoff hopes, there can be plenty to play for and that's especially true for former Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Edwards-Helaire has only two games left in his 2024 campaign now that he's a member of the New Orleans Saints, a recently signed back who was brought in to provide depth and further help at a position dealing with injuries (Alvin Kamara is out, for one). For Edwards-Helaire, it was a chance at a homecoming, to rejoin his home state's only pro franchise and play close to where he invested his collegiate days in Baton Rouge at LSU.
The Chiefs let Edwards-Helaire go earlier in December to make room on the roster for other positions with a backfield clearly working without him. Despite being the former first-round pick for the team in 2020, the Chiefs, when healthy, were comfortable rolling with a one-two tandem of Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt with Samaje Perine providing snaps on obvious passing downs. Fullback Carson Steele was also available to provide reps when needed.
As for Edwards-Helaire, the hype of being the first back selected in a draft that also included Jonathan Taylor was always a cloud that surrounded the LSU star. Expectations were high—perhaps too high—and injuries and an ill fit in the offense never allowed Edwards-Helaire to truly take off on the level that most Chiefs fans pictured in an offense that also featured Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill.
On Sunday, Edwards-Helaire could take his first snap away from Kansas City in the NFL. The Saints have elevated him from the practice squad to play for the first time with the franchise. It's uncertain yet whether he will be active on game day against the L.A. Raiders, but the team at least promoted him when placing center Erik McCoy and guard Lucas Patrick on injured reserve.