Chiefs, Saints named possible suitors for Steelers team MVP in free agency

When it comes to teams that could be in the market for a running back this offseason, the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs come to mind.

In New Orleans, Alvin Kamara is coming off a down season and isn't getting any younger. Behind him, the Saints have a slew of young, unproven players and may want to add a veteran into the mix.

As for the Chiefs, both Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt are pending free agents and neither one was particularly good last season, which could lead to Kansas City not bringing either one back.

One potential option for both Kansas City and New Orleans is Pittsburgh Steelers running back and team MVP Kenneth Gainwell, who is also a pending free agent.

Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport thinks the Chiefs and Saints could both make a play for the veteran, who is coming off a career-best season.

At just 5'9" and 200 pounds, Gainwell is on the small side for an every-down back. But more NFL teams than not are using backfield committees now anyway, and he offers teams a versatile player who has proved he can produce who should be available for a reasonable cost.

Potential Fits: Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints

Gainwell posted 537 rushing yards, 486 receiving yards and eight total scores in 2025, all of which were personal bests for him. You could certainly make the argument that Gainwell was Pittsburgh's best offensive player.

We would suspect the Steelers will have interest in keeping Gainwell, but that's far from guaranteed to happen with a new offensive-minded head coach in town in Mike McCarthy, who may not view Gainwell as a fit in his offense.

Another problem for the Steelers keeping Gainwell is that he's going to command a raise and that would leave the Steelers spending a fairly significant amount of money on two backs when you include Jaylen Warren.

Gainwell would offer a strong veteran complement for both the Saints and Chiefs, two teams that could potentially draft Jeremiyah Love in the first round.

We would peg the Chiefs as the more likely landing spot for Gainwell given their wide-open situation at running back, but we certainly wouldn't rule out New Orleans given their need to add more weapons for Tyler Shough.

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