The New Orleans Saints head into the offseason with many questions. They have kicked the can on the salary cap for years, which has started hampering their team-building. The roster is full of players who are in the back half of their careers and taking up a large portion of the salary cap. Quarterback Derek Carr has not lived up to expectations, and the other quarterbacks on the roster didn’t show any promise last season. New head coach Kellen Moore has his work cut out for him. Despite the limited cap space, the team did decide to bring back one player, re-signing former first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire to a one-year deal.
New Orleans Saints Re-Sign Clyde Edwards-Helaire
The former first-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs signed with the New Orleans Saints practice squad in December. Because of the rash of injuries, he did play in the season’s final two games, racking up 46 yards rushing and three catches for 24 yards. On Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Saints are bringing him back to bolster their depth chart. While Alvin Kamara should be back healthy, depth at the running back position is never a bad thing.
Edwards-Helaire has not panned out the way many thought. He showed promise in his rookie season, rushing for 803 yards and four touchdowns. He caught 36 passes for 297 yards that year as well. His stats have decreased every year. The Chiefs ultimately decided that seventh-round pick Isiah Pacheco was a better fit and released the former LSU running back. He will now get another chance to show he can be a quality back in the league. While it is unlikely he will ever be the featured back, we’ve seen many players carve out a great role as a secondary option.
2025 Outlook
It is tough to know what the New Orleans Saints will look like next season. Moore just won a Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator, but we have no clue what he will look like as a head coach. We also didn’t get a great look at the team last season simply because of injuries. Carr, Kamara, and Taysom Hill all missed significant time. If they had been healthy, the team might have played slightly better. The salary cap is a killer, with many players who are 30+ taking up huge amounts of cap space.
The best thing the Saints could do is tear it all down and look down the road for a rebuild. However, they have not shown any indication they are willing to do so. The best-case scenario for them is that the NFC South continues to be one of the weakest divisions in football. This gets paired with some of their veterans having career years, and the team could sneak into the playoffs. If that is the best-case scenario, that’s not where you want to be.
Final Thoughts
The signing of Clyde Edwards-Helaire is just another sign the New Orleans Saints hope they can somehow put together a winning roster. It’s not a bad signing per se, but it isn’t one a team in their position should be doing. Until the Saints decide they want to reset the roster, they will likely be a team that hangs out somewhere in the middle, aimlessly wandering to try and simply make the playoffs.
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