3 Chiefs Free Agents Who Could Still Re-Sign With Kansas City

The Kansas City Chiefs have been busy throughout this year's free agency period. General manager Brett Veach has not only re-signed key players like Chris Jones and Drue Tranquill while bringing in fresh faces like Marquise Brown and Irv Smith Jr. in hopes of winning a third consecutive Super Bowl next season.

But despite all the moves made thus far, the Chiefs have holes to fill. Fortunately, there are still plenty of free agents — including several familiar names — who can help flesh out the roster given that the franchise still has over $15.8 million to spend, per Spotrac.

Bringing back familiar names can sometimes be more beneficial than rolling the dice on new ones, so here are three Chiefs free agents who can still re-sign in Kansas City.

1. RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire

After being drafted 32nd overall in 2020, the Chiefs rolled with Clyde Edwards-Helaire as their lead running back for his first two seasons in the league. Unfortunately, the ex-LSU Tiger struggled to live up to expectations, resulting in Isiah Pachecho usurping him as the RB1 when he arrived in town in 2022.

Pacheco leading the backfield saw Edwards-Helaire's numbers drop to new lows in 2023. The 24-year-old rusher finished with only 70 carries, 223 rushing yards, and one touchdown while playing a career-low 22% of offensive snaps before becoming a free agent this spring.

But just because Pachecho is the RB1 doesn't mean that CEH can't return for at least one more season.

For starters, the Chiefs don't have any trustworthy options behind Pacheco on the depth chart at the moment. While they could wind up using one of their draft picks to select a backup rusher, it makes sense to stick with a known commodity like Edwards-Helaire who's more than familiar with the coaching staff and players.

Has the former first-rounder lived up to the hype? No, but he's far from the worst RB in the NFL. Even though he averaged a career-worst 3.2 yards per carry last season, he still owns a mark of 4.2 on his career. He also doesn't even turn 25 until April, meaning there's a decent chance that we haven't seen the best of his abilities just yet.

If he's willing to take a cheap "prove yourself" deal, there's a real possibility that the Chiefs wouldn't mind re-signing Edwards-Helaire this offseason.