Even with the position's most expensive player in tow, the Kansas City Chiefs feature a backfield. Yet if they're able to go forward without Clyde Edwards-Helaire in some way in 2023, the Chiefs could very well feature the National Football League's only $3 million backfield.
The Chiefs have shown little interest in investing in the last couple of years at the running back position after sinking a first-round pick in Edwards-Helaire. While that sounds natural, the lack of investment isn't for the typical reasons one might think. Instead of having the position wrapped up with a lead back in place with Edwards-Helaire, the Chiefs have simply found a rotation of contributors who have risen to the occasion despite the lack of cost involved for the organization.
Despite Edwards-Helaire's inability to take hold of a starting role in this offense, the Chiefs have featured an effective backfield with a tandem that emerged in their championship run in 2022 with seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco to go with veteran Jerick McKinnon. The former was one of three seventh-round choices for the Chiefs in a strong draft class a year ago, while the latter has been quite a find in the backfield willing to return again and again on cheap one-year offers.
The Kansas City Chiefs could employ the lowest-paid backfield in the league in 2023.
This year, Pacheco will be the lead back coming into the season after coming on strong in the season's second half. He's set to make just a few dollars shy of $890K in 2023. He's also under team control through 2025 and the savings on the level of production he provides should be a positive asset for the Chiefs for years to come.
McKinnon first came to the Chiefs on a one-year, $990K deal back in 2021 and became a postseason hero in the process, taking over for another unlikely playoff performer in Damien Williams to help the backfield remain productive for K.C. In 2022, the Chiefs brought him back on a one-year deal worth $1.2 million and he helped deliver a ring. This season, he was invited back for a third time with a modest raise at $1.3 million overall.
While Edwards-Helaire is still around and likely in possession of a RB3 role with experience to take over in case of injury, fan hopes are high for a new undrafted free agent to watch in Deneric Prince. As a rookie free agent, Prince's deal has a mere $756K cap hit this season and despite being a Super Bowl contender, there's a clear path to playing time for someone of Prince's ilk.
Prince is the variable here for the Chiefs' ability to sport the NFL's cheapest backfield. After averaging 91 yards per game last season, Prince enters the NFL with a reputation as a big, physical rusher, but he's also turned heads in early workouts with his hands out of the backfield as well. If Prince can somehow stand out in the team's minicamp and preseason, it's quite possible the Chiefs shed some salary obligations by allowing Prince to be the third and final running back on the active roster coming out of camp.
Even if the Chiefs keep Edwards-Helaire for the sake of depth and overall talent, or if they want to see whether their investment is more of a late bloomer, the team will still have one of the cheaper backfields in the NFL. But if they cut costs with a frustrating player who could likely use a change of scenery, it would be interesting to see what sort of impact and influence an ultra-cheap backfield could have on the Chiefs and the rest of the league.