Why Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz may played final snaps with KC Chiefs

It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which Mitchell Schwartz returns to the KC Chiefs in 2021.

A bit of the narrative leading up to the Super Bowl was the absence of both tackles, which, while true, was somewhat misleading. Schwartz missed a significant amount of the season and at this point, it’s tough to see him returning in 2021. Back injuries in offensive linemen are an issue and often continue to be for the duration of their career.

Schwartz’s contract calls for him to carry a cap number of $10.005 million next season, a salary of $4.905 million, and a dead cap number of $3.750, per Spotrac. The smaller salary complicates the issue of lowering his cap figure and the $3.750 signing bonus proration amount makes it difficult to really lower his number much.

The big question is how his back is doing. If the team believes rest or maybe a small operation will fix the issue, at least short-term, and he is willing to come back on a reduced, incentive type deal then maybe he comes back. If the team can get his cap number down in 2021 to say, $5 million, and they believe he will enter training camp healthy and good to go, maybe it works.

However, the more likely scenario is the team moving on from Schwartz. While replacing Fisher is more difficult, the organization has multiple realistic options to replace the veteran right tackle, and the time may be right to find a younger, long-term option at the spot.