Kansas City Chiefs: Moving on from Mitch Morse not surprising
The Kansas City Chiefs have already seen some of their own go their separate ways in free agency. Former center Mitch Morse intends to sign with the Buffalo Bills.
The Kansas City Chiefs made a big move on Monday during the tampering period in acquiring Tyrann Mathieu, but they won’t be bringing back Mitch Morse. The former Chiefs center intends to become a Buffalo Bill as soon as he can officially sign with them on Wednesday.
This move isn’t the least bit surprising for several reasons.
For one, the Chiefs have a decent backup set to takeover Morse’s spot in Austin Reiter. He played in 11 games last year and did just fine in his role as a starter.
Former Chiefs center Mitch Morse intends to sign with the Bills, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2019
The second reason the Chiefs moved on is because of Morse being injury prone. The sole reason Reiter got to prove himself in the starting center role is because Morse was banged up all the time. It showed the team that they could get by without him and with that being the case, it didn’t make sense for them to dish out a ton of money to him.
The Bills clearly need the help more than the Chiefs do and are set to pay Morse an average of $11 million over the next four years. It’s a lot of money and will make Morse one of the highest paid centers in the entire league.
This a good signing for the Bills, however, as they want to protect their young quarterback – Josh Allen – and did so by bringing in a young free agent. Morse is just 26 years old.
The Chiefs didn’t let Morse go for of lack of talent. The guy was a great option at center, but injuries plus finding a cheaper replacement (though not a younger option, as Reiter is 27) made this one of the easier decisions in free agency. Morse was a local guy, playing at Missouri for his college career, and fans liked him, but this wasn’t a shocking departure whatsoever.
Morses deal is for four years and will average $11 million per season, a source confirms
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 11, 2019
Free agency has yet to even begin and the Chiefs have signed a safety and lost their center. We won’t know for awhile if Morse amounts to anything in Buffalo, but Chiefs fans definitely wish him nothing but the best.
As for the Chiefs offensive line, they should be just fine without Morse. Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz are the two tackles with Cameron Erving and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will be the starting guards while Reiter, as mentioned previously, will officially take over at center.
dark. Next. Realistic Look at Chiefs 2019 Roster
It’s a bummer to see a local (and talented) guy sign elsewhere, but Chiefs Kingdom isn’t the least bit shocked.