The New Orleans Saints are 23 days away from their first game of the 2025 regular season against the Arizona Cardinals. On our journey to kickoff, we continue the countdown with a highlight on Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The running back joined the Saints late in the 2024 season and grabbed Marshon Lattimore's old number.
He didn't have much of a role for the Saints last year. He joined late and only played two games. This year, he's going through an entire offseason program as a member of the Saints and is entrenched in a battle for the third running back on the depth chart with Cam Akers and Velus Jones Jr.
Coming back to Louisiana is like a dream for Edwards-Helaire. When he got the call to re-sign with the Saints, the running back was at dinner. He was already in New Orleans the next morning
Injuries stalled Clyde Edwards-Helaire's early success
Edwards-Helaire went straight from the historic 2019 LSU team that won a national championship to the reigning Super Bowl champions. In his first year with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team made it to the Super Bowl. He was the team's leading rusher and finished his rookie campaign with over 1000 yards from scrimmage.
The running back only played in 13 games as a rookie, so those numbers were impressive and on pace for just under 1000 rushing yards. The following year he was limited to 10 games due to injury. The injury woes continued to strike the year after as well.
By the time he was able to stay healthy, the Chiefs had already replaced Edwards-Helaire with Isaiah Pacheco. Edwards-Helaire was no longer a featured part of the offense and was cut late last season. New Orleans wasted no time picking up the former LSU Tiger.
In technically his second season with the Saints, Edwards-Helaire is looking to rebuild his value. That will partially staying healthy, but also performing in limited action.