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Chiefs Waive RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire

December 16th, 2024 at 3:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

With Isiah Pacheco back, the Chiefs have stuck with Kareem Hunt as a key player on offense. Hunt’s Chiefs reunion continued a season of inactivity for Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The former first-round pick is now off the team’s roster entirely.

The Chiefs cut Edwards-Helaire on Monday, the fifth-year running back announced. This will clear a roster spot in Kansas City, as Marquise Brown ramps up toward a possible Week 16 debut with the team.

Edwards-Helaire had begun his career as a starter for the team, but he was unable to deliver on expectations that came with a No. 32 overall draft slot. Pacheco, a former seventh-round pick, had usurped him; the Chiefs had Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon playing ahead of Edwards-Helaire last season. Despite the team not re-signing McKinnon, it did not find room for CEH on its gameday rosters. Since being activated off the reserve/non-football illness list, Edwards-Helaire has been a healthy scratch.

It is possible Edwards-Helaire could be brought back on a practice squad deal, but the LSU alum’s message certainly does not point to that happening. If this is it for the 5-foot-7 back in Kansas City, he will close his Missouri run with 32 starts, 1,845 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Chiefs used one of their activations to return Edwards-Helaire to the 53-man roster, doing so after having placed him on the NFI list to start the season. Once Pacheco suffered a broken leg in Week 2, however, Hunt quickly reentered the fray as the team’s primary back. Hunt remains on Kansas City’s roster, with UDFA Carson Steele still around as a third-stringer and Samaje Perine as a pass-down specialist. Teams do not make a habit of carrying five RBs, so the roster math makes sense here — especially with the Chiefs needing a spot for Brown.

Hosting J.K. Dobbins on a free agent visit April 2, the Chiefs instead chose to re-sign Edwards-Helaire to a one-year, $1.7MM deal. This release will leave the team on the hook for just less than $200K in dead money. Having neared a recovery from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him throughout the season, Brown is on track to be activated soon.

Debuting with a 138-yard, two-touchdown performance, Edwards-Helaire could not consistently display the pass-game chops that led to his first-round arrival. He also struggled with injuries, having missed time in each of his four seasons before this year’s NFI stint. Counting hte playoffs, Edwards-Helaire missed 24 games from 2020-23. Still, he profiles as an option for a running back-needy team on waivers. Clubs have until 3pm CT on Tuesday to submit a claim.

OL Notes: Bolles, Chiefs, 49ers, Texans, Jags

December 15th, 2024 at 12:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

For a second time, the Broncos allowed Garett Bolles to play deep into a contract year before extending him. After the sides previously reached an extension agreement in November 2020, Bolles inked his second Denver extension days before the team’s Week 15 game. Talks did not begin until recently. The sides did not begin to discuss a new deal — one Bolles had begun to lobby for back in 2023 — until after the Broncos’ win over the Browns, 9News’ Mike Klis notes. While Bolles held Myles Garrett without a sack, the Broncos’ upcoming bye week presumably had more to do with the timing of the negotiations.

Bolles is now the NFL’s sixth-highest-paid left tackle. Like recently extended edge rusher Jonathon Cooper, he may well have done better by reaching free agency. But Bolles wanted to stay with the team that drafted him back in 2017. The four-year, $82MM contract includes $23.7MM guaranteed at signing and features a similar guarantee structure to the one Mike McGlinchey secured. If Bolles is on Denver’s roster by Day 5 of the 2025 league year, his 2026 base salary becomes guaranteed, per OverTheCap. As the Broncos have part two of Russell Wilson‘s dead money due in 2025, they have predictably backloaded Bolles’ deal. This is a rather extreme effort, as five void years (through 2033) are attached to this deal. Bolles will count $5.8MM on Denver’s 2025 cap and just $9.2MM in 2026; the cap hits balloon past $20MM after that.

Here is the latest from the NFL’s O-line situations:

  • Unable to find a reliable left tackle since letting Orlando Brown Jr. leave in 2023, the Chiefs are going with an emergency plan today. With recent signee D.J. Humphries declared out due to a hamstring injury he sustained in his Kansas City debut, the Chiefs are kicking Joe Thuney to left tackle. The left guard saw time at LT against the Raiders, who were besting second-year blocker Wanya Morris. Rather than go with Morris, the Chiefs are using Thuney at LT and backup Mike Caliendo at LG, per ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher. This will cut into the Chiefs’ elite inside trio, but with the team seeing Patrick Mahomes hit with more frequency in recent weeks, it will use this patchwork adjustment to stem the tide. A 2023 UDFA, Caliendo is making his first career start.
  • On the same note, the Texans are making a change. Right tackle Tytus Howard is moving back to left guard, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes. Both center Juice Scruggs and left guard Kenyon Green are out. As a result, Howard will return to the position he primarily played last season. Howard has shuffled between tackle and guard as a pro; prior to his 812-snap 2024 at RT, he played all 408 of his 2023 snaps at LG. Second-round pick Blake Fisher is in at RT.
  • Trent Williams‘ recovery from an ankle injury has proven “a lot” slower than the 49ers expected, Kyle Shanahan said (via ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner). The team is not ruling him out for the rest of the season. That said, San Francisco is now 5-8; shelving the All-Pro the rest of the way would make sense. Williams, 36, secured significant guarantees via a September reworking. He has not indicated a 2025 return will commence, but his through-2026 contract contains enticements to come back.
  • The Bears should be likely to be shoppers to fortify their O-line’s interior in 2025, with the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs rating that area atop the team’s list of needs. Chicago whiffed on Nate Davis and devoted low-end money to center. Left guard Teven Jenkins is a free agent-to-be who has not engaged in substantive extension talks.
  • Like Bolles, Walker Little secured an extension recently. The Jaguars revealed their long-term left tackle plan, post-Cam Robinson, by signing Little to a three-year, $40.5MM extension. The first two years of Little’s deal are fully guaranteed, per OverTheCap. That comes out to $25.94MM. Although his 2027 salary is nonguaranteed, the 2021 second-rounder did well on the guarantee front as he bypasses free agency.

Chiefs WR Marquise Brown Designated For Return

December 15th, 2024 at 10:12am CST by Nikhil Mehta

DECEMBER 15: Not playing today, Brown may not be too far from making his elusive debut as a Chief. Good form in his return to practice has made the free agency addition a candidate to resurface in Kansas City’s Week 16 game against Houston, Rapoport offers. While Rashee Rice is done for the season, the Chiefs could have all their remaining wideouts ready to go soon.

DECEMBER 13: Brown is indeed set to practice today, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports. Activation in time for Week 15 could be in play as a result, although that would come as a surprise after very limited work in preparation for Kansas City’s upcoming game. Nevertheless, Brown should be back in the fold in time to see game action before the regular season ends.

DECEMBER 12: Marquise Brown has been cleared to practice, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, positioning the star wideout to get back on the field for the Chiefs after shoulder surgery on his SC joint in September put his season in doubt.

Reports of Brown’s potential to return this year initially emerged in November and intensified last week after the 27-year-old scheduled an appointment with his surgeon to receive final clearance to play. The appointment went well, according to Rapoport, setting up Brown to practice with his teammates for the first time in months.

Kansas City will still be cautious with Brown, who has dealt with several injuries in his football career dating back to his college days at Oklahoma. The team is expected to open Brown’s practice window on Friday or the following Monday. He will have 21 days to ramp up as the Chiefs figure out if he can contribute this season.

Brown’s return could be a massive boost for a Chiefs offense that ranks outside of the top six in passing yards for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. However, Brown is not guaranteed to have a major impact, as he has yet to play a single regular-season snap in Kansas City. He signed a one-year, $7MM contract this offseason, but injured his shoulder in mid-August, minimizing his practice time in a new offense.

Even if Brown is able to play again this year, he won’t be asked to shoulder an especially heavy snap count or playmaking role. Trade deadline acquisition DeAndre Hopkins has settled in well in Kansas City, and first-round pick Xavier Worthy has topped 40 yards in each of his last four weeks after doing so just twice over his first nine games. Putting Brown and Worthy on the field together would give Mahomes one of the fastest receiver tandems in the NFL, which could potentially open up more room for Hopkins and Travis Kelce to operate over the middle.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/14/24

December 14th, 2024 at 8:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Saturday’s minor moves and standard gameday elevations:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Demercado has taken a backseat to Florida State third-round rookie Trey Benson, but he has averaged 9.3 yards per carry on 24 carries this year. Palardy will take over punting duties with Gillikin landing on injured reserve.

Jackson signed with Bills in late July, and although he was among the team’s final roster cuts he was immediately retained via a practice squad deal. This elevation means Week 15 will mark his first time spent on the active roster this season. The 36-year-old has started all but 10 of his 203 NFL games, but last season was marred by suspensions which led to his Broncos release. Jackson could suit up for Buffalo down the stretch as a gameday elevation in a bid to rebuild his stock to a degree.

With the playoffs nearly out of reach and quarterback Joe Burrow dealing with a few ailments (wrist and knee), the Bengals don’t seem to be taking any chances. Jake Browning will continue serving as the primary backup, while Woodside’s promotion will allow him to act as the emergency backup.

Adams has seen his biggest NFL roles during his time in Pittsburgh. Though he hasn’t gotten the same number of starts as he had in 2022 and 2023, he’s continued the same level of production. After missing the last four games, he’ll be looking to return to the field as early as tomorrow.

Chiefs Waive K Matthew Wright, Activate K Harrison Butker

December 14th, 2024 at 10:48am CST by Ben Levine

Days after earning the Special Teams Player of the Week award, Matthew Wright has been cut. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chiefs have waived their fill-in kicker. In a corresponding move, the Chiefs have activated starting kicker Harrison Butker from IR, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Wright represented Kansas City’s third kicker of the 2024 campaign. Butker suffered a knee injury last month that ultimately landed him on injured reserve. The Chiefs initially turned to Jets practice squad kicker Spencer Shrader, who got into two games with the Chiefs. However, Shrader suffered a hamstring injury that also required a stint on IR, leading the Chiefs to add Wright from their practice squad to the active roster.

Over the past two weeks, Wright has been responsible for 26 of the Chiefs’ 38 points. This included a performance from last weekend where the kicker connected on all four of his field goal attempts, including the game-winning attempt that doinked off the upright before going in.

Wright has been called on as a fill-in throughout his career. Since 2020, he’s made appearances with five different squads, and he’s had offseason and/or practice squad gigs with a handful of additional teams. In total, he’s connected on 86.4 percent of his field goal tries and 95.2 percent of his XP attempts. He got his longest look as a starter in 2021 with the Jaguars, when he converted 21 of his 24 FGAs.

The Chiefs will now turn back to Butker, who’s served as the team’s kicker since the 2017 campaign. The veteran’s knee injury popped up in mid-November and ultimately required arthroscopic surgery. Fortunately for the Chiefs, Butker only ended up needing a minimum stay on IR, as the 29-year-old will return to the field after missing only four games.

Butker’s injury followed an offseason where the Chiefs made him the league’s highest-paid kicker with a $6.4MM-per-year deal. In nine games this year, the veteran has connected on 18 of his 20 field goal attempts and 21 of his 22 XP tries. Butker finished last season having converted a career-high 94.3 percent of his field goal tries and all 38 of his extra point attempts, and he was perfect during the Chief’s subsequent Super Bowl run.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/13/24

December 13th, 2024 at 6:46pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad transactions in the NFL:

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

Since being waived by the team that drafted him 26th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, McKinley has struggled to find a place in the NFL. Since 2020, McKinley has spent time on six different teams, failing to stick anywhere.

Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Back At Practice

December 11th, 2024 at 12:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Continuing to walk a tightrope to keep a one-loss record in place, the Chiefs have seen three different kickers hit game-winning field goals during this run of one-score victories. With Harrison Butker down, both Spencer Shrader and Matthew Wright have stepped in.

The Chiefs needed to turn to Wright due to a Shrader injury — one that sent him to IR — and while style points eluded the second-stint Kansas City kicker, Wright nailed the game-winner to beat the Chargers on Sunday night. It is now possible the Chiefs are done with their revolving-door period at this position, as Andy Reid said Wednesday (via ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher) Butker would practice today.

This will start the veteran kicker’s 21-day activation clock. Butker has missed the past four games due to a knee injury, one that required arthroscopic surgery. This issue affected Butker’s non-kicking leg, and the eighth-year Chiefs kicker will aim to return soon. By being designated for return from IR, he would be eligible to come back against the Browns in Week 15. It is not certain he will be ready by then, however.

The Chiefs hold merely a plus-56 point differential — 11th-best in the NFL — which has placed a greater importance on precision from their kickers. Ten of the defending champions’ 12 wins have come by one score. Shrader hit a short game-winner to lift the Chiefs past the Panthers, while a banked-in Wright offering saved them against the Chargers. Butker has offered more stability. He is 18-for-20 on field goals this season, including a walk-off 51-yarder to beat the Bengals in Week 2, and 21-for-22 on PATs.

Kansas City is in good shape still, in terms of injury activations; the team holds six going into Week 15. They are aiming for Marquise Brown to return along with Butker. The free agent signing has been eligible to return from IR for months, but Reid said Wednesday he has not received clearance yet.

Chiefs Sign CB Steven Nelson

December 9th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

DECEMBER 9: Monday’s workout went ahead as scheduled, and it has produced a deal. Nelson signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad, per a team announcement. Once he is prepared to make his season debut, he will provide Kansas City with veteran depth either as a gameday elevation or as a candidate to be signed to the active roster in the near future.

DECEMBER 8: Steven Nelson announced his retirement in June, but he is in contention for a midseason return to NFL action. The veteran corner has a visit lined up with the Chiefs, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Nelson’s agent confirmed the visit will take place tomorrow, and it will open the door to a potential reunion. His playing career started with Kansas City in 2015 and lasted four seasons. Nelson played sparingly as a rookie, but he was a full-time starter after that, something which remained the case through to last season.

The former third-rounder had two-year runs with the Steelers, Eagles and Texans before electing to hang up his cleats. Nelson was on the Raiders’ radar this offseason, but he has been out of the league and has not been connected to any interest until the news of his upcoming Kansas City visit. Landing a deal with the defending champions would give them added depth in the secondary.

The Chiefs dealt away L’Jarius Sneed this offseason, and their CB room took another hit when Jaylen Watson suffered an ankle injury which will likely keep him sidelined for the rest of the campaign. Kansas City has held up well against the run this season, but the team’s secondary has been a relative weak point on defense. That informed the pursuit of Marshon Lattimore ahead of the trade deadline, but the Commanders ultimately won the bidding war for the former Saints Pro Bowler.

Kansas City has Trent McDuffie atop the cornerback depth chart, along with Chamarri Conner, Joshua Williams, Keith Taylor and Christian Roland-Wallace. Nelson could join that group as a depth contributor with plenty of experience at the NFL level (140 combined regular and postseason appearances), although he would of course not face high expectations in the event he were to sign a deal. After posting four interceptions and 12 pass deflections last year, though, Nelson could offer a degree of playmaking if he and the Chiefs were to come to an agreement.

Chiefs To Start D.J. Humphries At LT In Week 14

December 8th, 2024 at 11:15am CST by Rory Parks

D.J. Humphries is about to become the Chiefs’ third starting left tackle of 2024. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter was first to report, Kansas City will deploy the recent acquisition as Patrick Mahomes’ blindside protector for tonight’s Week 14 matchup with the Chargers.

Humphries, who will turn 31 this month, was released by the Cardinals in March. He sustained a torn ACL at the end of the 2023 season and was therefore not even certain to be medically cleared to return to the field in 2024. As such, it was an easy call (from a purely financial standpoint, at least), for Arizona GM Monti Ossenfort to cut ties with the longtime Cardinal and his $22MM cap charge.

Fortunately, the 2021 Pro Bowler did receive medical clearance last month. After drawing interest from the Giants and Patriots, he elected to join the defending champs, who considered a reunion with Donovan Smith — their primary LT in 2023 – before agreeing to terms with Humphries.

Although the Chiefs are 11-1 and therefore in excellent position to make another deep playoff run, the left tackle position has been a notable sore spot. 2024 second-rounder Kingsley Suamataia won the job in training camp, but he was benched in Week 2 in favor of 2023 third-rounder Wanya Morris, who has started every game since. Through just 12 games, Mahomes has already been sacked a career-high 32 times (h/t Ian Rapoport of NFL.com), and he has been taken down five times in consecutive games for the first time in his career (h/t veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder).

The situation became so dire that the Chiefs shifted left guard Joe Thuney to left tackle for the last couple of drives of their Week 13 win over the Raiders. While Humphries is certainly not a lock to return to his Pro Bowl peak, it would be hard for him to perform worse than the Suamataia/Morris tandem.

It was expected at the time of the Humphries signing that he would be inserted into the starting lineup either this week or next, and clearly the Chiefs felt they could not afford to wait. They gave Humphries, who has started 98 games in his career, a fairly notable salary – $5MM, prorated to $2MM for the remainder of the year, with a maximum value of $4.5MM – and if he plays well and stays healthy, he could position himself nicely for a longer stay in KC.

Though he has battled numerous ailments throughout his nine-year stint in the pros, Humphries was durable enough and solid enough to secure multiple lucrative extensions with the Cardinals and has earned over $84MM in his career.

Chiefs Place WR Mecole Hardman On IR

December 7th, 2024 at 2:38pm CST by Ely Allen

Veteran wide receiver Mecole Hardman continues to struggle to live up to his second-round draft status with the Chiefs. His sixth NFL season appears to be coming to an early end as Kansas City places him on injured reserve with a knee issue that surfaced this week.

Since making the Pro Bowl and earning second-team All-Pro honors as a return man his rookie year, Hardman’s role in the NFL has continued to evolve. While he maintained his role in the return game, his targets as a receiver increased over the years immediately following his rookie season. While his yardage increased, he never matched the six touchdowns he caught in his first year. In the last year of his rookie deal, Hardman’s role seemed to be on a similar pace until an injury saw him miss the final nine games of the season.

As a free agent, Hardman signed a deal to join the Jets, but his turbulent five games in New York only amounted to three targets and one catch for six yards. He was traded back to the Chiefs, despite their lack of plans to re-sign him in the prior offseason, and spent the rest of the season as a minor piece of the offense, missing a five-game stretch with injury. This year, Hardman’s role on the offense is virtually nonexistent as he currently ranks 10th on the team in targets, but he has served as the Chiefs’ primary punt returner while splitting kickoff return duties with Carson Steele and Samaje Perine.

With Steele and Perine able to handle kick return responsibilities in Hardman’s absence, the focus will be on filling his role as a punt returner. Hardman is the only player on the team to return a punt this year, but practice squad wide receiver Montrell Washington got some experience in the role last year.

It looks like the Chiefs will favor a different option, though, as they moved to sign second-year undrafted receiver Nikko Remigio to the active roster from the practice squad. As a graduate transfer at Frenso State after four years with Cal, Remigio broke out with the Bulldogs recording 852 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 74 catches. Perhaps more importantly, Remigio led the Mountain West conference with 259 yards and two touchdowns on 13 punt returns. He looks to have earned an opportunity to field punts in his NFL debut with Hardman out.

Joining Remigio off the practice squad tomorrow will be linebacker Swayze Bozeman and tight end Baylor Cupp. Their promotions are simply standard gameday practice squad elevations, so while Remigio will remain on the 53-man roster following the game, Bozeman and Cupp will revert to the practice squad.

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