It took the Chiefs and Jerick McKinnon until June last year before another contract agreement emerged. A third Kansas City McKinnon pact might end up coming around the same juncture.
The productive pass-catching back remains unsigned, sitting out a market that produced a host of low-cost deals in March. But the Chiefs still have McKinnon in their 2023 plans. Praising the team’s two-year contributor, GM Brett Veach said (via The Athletic’s Nate Taylor) Thursday they plan to begin discussions with the veteran after the draft.
McKinnon, who will turn 32 next month, has managed to go from two straight full-season absences (2018-19) to staying mostly healthy in Kansas City over the past two seasons. The former Vikings draftee did not miss a game last year and enjoyed the best receiving season of his career, catching 56 passes for 512 yards and nine touchdowns. Not only catching two more touchdown passes in a season than any other back in Chiefs history, McKinnon also set a post-merger NFL running back record by catching a TD pass in six straight games.
The Chiefs have relied on McKinnon in each of the past two postseasons. Last season, he and rookie Isiah Pacheco formed a quality tandem — each attached to league-minimum deals — while Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a healthy scratch in Super Bowl LVII. McKinnon logged a 47% offensive snap rate last season, being featured far more often in Andy Reid‘s offense compared to his 2021 debut.
It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs offer the nine-year veteran much of a raise. This year’s running back market led to a few starter-level backs — D’Onta Foreman, Damien Harris, Devin Singletary — signing one-year deals for less than $3MM. Of course, McKinnon played for $1.2MM last season and $1MM in 2021. While his performance warrants a raise, the market has not been kind to veteran backs this offseason. Given Pacheco’s success from a seventh-round draft slot, the Chiefs’ backfield situation may also change in the upcoming draft
Should McKinnon re-sign with the Chiefs after the draft, he will join Cordarrelle Patterson as the only 32-year-old running backs under contract. Raheem Mostert is the only 31-year-old back under contract, having re-signed with the Dolphins last month. The Chiefs have Pacheco signed through 2025, and Edwards-Helaire is likely going into a contract year. While Veach did not indicate which way the team was leaning regarding CEH’s fifth-year option, it should not be expected the defending Super Bowl champions will exercise that by the May deadline.
Seems like ideal JD McKissic replacement in Washington with EB there
So the Chiefs will be taking a secondary back in the draft if a good one falls to them, but won’t force the pick. You have to think that Pacheco is the starter at this moment, and McKinnon took a lot of snaps in the playoffs in important moments. K.C. obviously trusts him, especially in pass protection, and replacing him with a rookie as their “safe” back would be an interesting task. McKinnon is not an explosive runner any more though, so it’s not hard to see why they’d be interested in a younger back if the right one shows up.
This does not exactly bode well for Edwards-Helaire’s involvement going forward.
CEH is/was a bust. Not as busted as Mecole, but busted nonetheless.
If this is all he does in the NFL, I would agree. If this is all he does in K.C. but does well elsewhere, perhaps not. Either way, it looks like he was a disappointment for the Chiefs overall after a good rookie year.
No matter what, chances are low that Edwards-Hellaire will be a Chief for much longer. You speak the truth.