Matt Loede
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The Kansas City Chiefs are revamping their offensive line, and Thursday was the first move in making the line better with the release of left tackle Eric Fisher.
Fisher played in 15 games in the 2020 regular season. However, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in last season’s AFC Championship Game and did not play in the Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
#Chiefs LT Eric Fisher announced on Instagram that he’s been released. The team is also releasing OT Mitchell Schwartz, source said. Both tackles out in KC. pic.twitter.com/VaH5MbwVhu
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2021
The release of Fisher will save the Chiefs about $12 million against the salary cap. Fisher was the first overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft and has been a fixture at left tackle for Kansas City over the past eight seasons.
He’s played in 117 games since he was drafted first overall, starting in 113 of them.
Head coach Andy Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck will have their work cut out for them as they look to rebuild the line to make sure that quarterback Patrick Mahomes stays upright and protected instead of running for his life like he was in the Super Bowl last February.
Fisher also isn’t the only KC lineman working his way back from injury. The team may also eventually cut ties with right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who is dealing with a long-term back injury.
With free agency ready to kickoff in a week, expect the Chiefs to be in the market for available offensive tackles who can help this roster.
when a QB makes $40 million a year, shouldn’t these salary dumps be classified as ‘salary contribution’ to Mahomes Marital Property 😜
Pat
You know how long KC had to wait for Eric Fisher to perform on a professional level in his position? Too long considering the talent available year after year who could have replaced him.
PaY ThE QuArTeRbAcK
Let’s see how he likes dodging DLs and LBs a la Russell Wilson up in Seattle when they gave all the $ to the QB…
This is the problem with being the highest paid player in history, you have to dump the support staff. See: Payton Manning, Bret Farve, Russel Wilson, etc…
This is also one the of the things that makes Tom Brady the GOAT. He took less than he could demand, year after year, so there would be a team around him.
As a Chiefs fan, the only hope I have is that by year 10 Mahomes will be cheap, but they’ll probably have to restructure his contract before than anyway.