Year in and year out, the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most productive offenses in the NFL. They have been able to accomplish that despite a middle-of-the-road, sometimes even below-average, rushing attack.

When you have Patrick Mahomes as your starting quarterback, you want to throw the ball as much as possible. But, to take home Super Bowls as the Chiefs have, you need a running game that can get the job done when it matters most.

Kansas City was hoping that the running back position would be set for years when they selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire as the final pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. They were coming off a Super Bowl-winning campaign and thought the LSU product could be the final piece to their puzzle offensively.

While he has shown some flashes since joining the team, they have been few and far between. That played a part in the Chiefs declining his fifth-year player option earlier this offseason and he has been surpassed by Isiah Pacheco, a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, on the depth chart.

As a result, Edwards-Helaire is one veteran that Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes could be on the roster chopping block this offseason. In addition to Pacheco, the Chiefs have also found great success with Jerick McKinnon, who re-signed with the team this offseason.

Injuries have played a part in Edwards-Helaire’s tumbling down the depth chart. He has missed at least three games in each regular season he has been a pro for and the Chiefs do have some more depth pieces they can turn to in Le’Mical Perine and Deneric Prince.

Releasing Edwards-Helaire won’t open up a ton of cap space, only $865,726, but for a team that is as up against the cap as the Chiefs are, every dollar counts. It would also open up a roster spot to use on a player to fill another hole on the team.