Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
Last year, the New Orleans Saints took to the free agent market late in the season to sign former running back and Baton Rogue native Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The former LSU Tiger took the field for the first time in 2024 in the Saints’ week 16 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, one week after signing with the team.
Following that game, Edwards-Helaire told LouisianaSports.Net that taking the field with his name on a Saints jersey was a dream come true. While that dream could have been deferred after just two games available to him in a Saints uniform, it ended up being extended instead when a familiar area code flashed on his phone this offseason while having dinner with his wife.
A two-time Super Bowl champion, college football national champion and high school state champion, Edwards-Helaire’s short stint with New Orleans wasn’t over.
“Just seeing the 504 number coming across my phone,” he said during camp media availability. “When it was (Saints general manager Mickey Loomis) calling me. I was itching to get on the plane once I realized who it was and where I was going to be.”
The Saints re-signed him in February and he could hardly wait to get to work.
“(Edwards-Helaire’s wife) packed my bag up and I was literally leaving out of Kansas City (at) like 11:30 that night,” he said. “I was here in the morning getting my physical. I was done with my physical by 8:00 and I was in the team meeting by 9:00.”
New Orleans wasn’t alone in courting Edwards-Helaire. He said that the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs had also reached out. New Orleans, though, was ultimately where he wanted to return all along.
Although he enters a crowded running back room with no guarantees, Edwards-Helaire is grateful for the chance to carve out a role and represent his home state of Louisiana again, this time with the benefit of a full offseason and training camp to get comfortable in the system.
The upcoming preseason games will be a key turning point for the Saints’ run game. Head coach Kellen Moore’s innovative, complex approach is difficult to fully evaluate in a practice setting. Beginning this weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers, Edwards-Helaire will have his first chance under the lights to extend his homecoming and keep his dream alive.
“I wasn’t always guaranteed that I was going to be here at this training camp,” he said. “So it was realizing that my dream could become reality if I did what I needed to do.”
