Getty Image / Ezra Shaw
The NFL’s deadline for teams to exercise 5th-year options of players they drafted in 2020 is coming up tomorrow.
With that deadline quickly approaching, teams have had some big decisions to make recently.
Some teams have had it pretty easy. The Bengals, Vikings, Chargers, and Cowboys didn’t have to think all that hard about exercising that option on Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Justin Herbert, and CeeDee Lamb.
However, there were some teams that were expected to be less sold on extending a 1st rounder from 2020.
One of those teams was the Kansas City Chiefs.
Just 3 years after they spent the 32nd overall pick on Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the running back has become an afterthought in the Chiefs backfield.
Today they may have taken a step toward moving on from him entirely.
According to Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick, the Chiefs have decided not to exercise Edwards-Helaire’s 5th-year option.
The Chiefs are officially declining the fifth-year option for the 2024 season for RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, a source tells Chiefs Digest.
Clyde remains under contract with the Chiefs for 2023, and on Monday GM Brett Veach said CEH is in tremendous shape. https://t.co/hkMibKnsAB
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) May 2, 2023
At the time the Chiefs made this pick, it was already seen as a questionable move. Not only did they spend a 1st rounder on a running back, but they spent it on a running back that wasn’t believed to be the best in his class.
This was a draft class that included Jonathan Taylor, Cam Akers, JK Dobbins, and D’Andre Swift.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the move never panned out. Clyde Edwards-Helaire peaked as a rookie with 803 rushing yards and 297 receiving yards.
Last season he even ended up being replaced by 7th-round rookie Isiah Pacheco and didn’t play a snap in the playoffs.
With most of his cap hit for 2023 being dead cap, he may still be a member of the Kansas City Chiefs for one more season, but it looks like they are just about ready to move on from their former 1st-round pick.