Kansas City Chiefs release Jamaal Charles
By Noah Torr
Jamaal Charles is now a free agent for the first time in his career after spending 9 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Free agency has claimed two surprising victims. Earlier on Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was informed that he would not be brought back under hs current contract, effectively making him a free agent. He won’t hit the market in an official capacity until mach 9th, but when he does he will be joined by a fellow 2009 standout.
The Kansas City Chiefs announced that oft-injured yet still stellar running back Jamaal Charles was being outright released.
Charles will no longer be with the Chiefs at the start of the 2017 NFL season. After two consecutive seasons full of injuries, the Chiefs decided that it was time for them to move away from Charles. Charles is the team’s all-time leader in rushing yards with 7,260 yards over his 9 seasons with the Chiefs.
The four-time Pro Bowl selection has played a grand total of 8 games in the last two seasons with the Chiefs, leaving Kansas City in a tough position when they make it to the playoffs. The Chiefs do not necessarily have another superstar running back on their team and now without Charles leading their backfield will look to either free agency or the 2017 NFL draft.
The last time Charles had a healthy season was in 2014 when he carried a for total of 1,033 yards and 9 touchdowns. Those are impressive numbers for any running back in the league.
Charles is on the ends of his career. At 30-years old, time is not his friends. NFL teams will usually prefer to have their running backs under 20-years of age. Charles is expected to land on a team before the season starts though considering that many teams still need a solid running back to anchor their backfield.
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Even though Charles has had injury problems the last two seasons, fans cannot forget that he is still a very capable runner. Charles can head off to a new team and possibly revitalize his career and show all of the doubters that he can still play with the best in the league.