Just three days before the Kansas City Chiefs’ season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens, it could be said that there has been a shakeup in the running back room after Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s placement on the non-football injury list.
In reality, though, the shakeup has been happening over the course of the last month. Chiefs’ training camp in St. Joseph began with Edwards-Helaire taking snaps behind starter Isiah Pacheco, only for Deneric Prince to take over that role as the practices progressed.
Then there was the emergence of undrafted rookie Carson Steele, whose training camp and preseason performance made Prince expendable. As of the weekend, Prince is a member of the Miami Dolphins practice squad.
The running back room appeared set — that was, until the Denver Broncos released veteran pass-catching back Samaje Perine. According to Perine, that opened up the door for the Chiefs — and particularly for head coach Andy Reid.
“I didn’t even know [the Chiefs] were that interested until coach Reid called me after I got released,” revealed Perine at his locker on Monday. “My agent told me that they’re possibly trying to trade for me, but I didn’t really think anything of it. After I officially got released, I got a call from a Philadelphia number, and I saw what the voice message said, I immediately called back — and here we are.”
Perine was thrilled to be speaking to the 26-year head coach.
“Honestly, it was just a very casual conversation,” added Perine. “He asked how family was, how my kids were. And we just had a casual conversation. It wasn’t anything in detail. He just said, ‘We really like you, we want you here. We’ll be glad to have you here.’”
And just like that, after all the offseason speculation that Kansas City may reunite with free-agent running back Jerick McKinnon, Perine went from one AFC West team to another.
“We all know what he did to us when he was at Cincinnati with that screen play,” said Reid of Perine on Friday, referencing the 2021 AFC Championship.
Perine recalled that play well.
“I remember it vividly — it was just a simple screen to the right, made a guy miss and had enough speed to get to the end zone,” said Perine. “ It was the jolt that we needed in that game... It helped us get the win. So, hopefully, I can do that here.”
Perine would spend another year (2022) with the Bengals before moving on to the Broncos (2023), but Reid never forgot that play.
“Samaje’s done this over his career where he’s been a phenomenal third-down back, but he’s also a good runner,” added Reid. “I think that you know that he’s really a good person. I mean, that word has traveled around the National Football League on what kind of guy he is – locker room guy and so on. We welcome that. The opportunity to have a guy in here that can do the run game and the pass game, I think he’s a good well-rounded football player that’s extremely intelligent, that is a great addition that (general manager) Brett [Veach] added to the team.”
The expectation has been that Perine will be active on Thursday night, just eight days after joining Kansas City. Reid is well known for his complex playbook, and Perine has noted that behind the scenes, it has been a complete team effort to ensure he is prepared for the moment.
“Unfortunately, Clyde has to sit out for a couple of weeks,” started Perine, “but he still came up to me, first day. ‘Anything I need, playbook-wise, don’t hesitate to ask.’
“The rest of the guys as well — even the coaches, everyone, offensive coordinator, running back, running back coaches — everyone’s all hands on deck getting me to learn the playbook. It’s coming along pretty good.”
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy described that process from his perspective.
“We’re learning that as we get through this,” said Nagy. “How much can he handle? What’s too much? What’s not enough? There’s a balance, but certainly one thing that I’ve taken from being with him these short amount of days is that [he’s] super smart, he’s a true pro. He gets it, so we just got to balance how much.”
Kansas City hopes to tap into Perine’s pass-catching upside, which saw him bring in 50 passes for 455 yards with the Broncos. Less spoken about is his capability to run the football, which comes in at exactly 4.0 yards an attempt over the course of his seven-year career.
Talking about the Ravens, the running back emphasized their physicality, which makes this hectic, one-week dash to learn the terminology all the more critical.
“It’s not ideal,” laughed Perine, in a genuine moment. “You gotta make the most of it, though. It’ll be fine.”
