On Thursday, the KC Chiefs announced a full commitment to a new offensive line, as the team officially announced the launch of left tackle Eric Fisher and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. Given the state of the salary cap, the age of both players and persistent health concerns, it was a change that made sense in both cases, but it also set the Chiefs up for considerable changes in the weeks and months to come.
For Eric Fisher in particular, it was also a decision that ran counter to the team’s previous announcements made in early March. This generated some confusing messages from both the franchise and the player that still make things dark. Let’s go over.
On Thursday, the Chiefs announced that they had released Fisher and Schwartz, and the team had statements from everyone involved thanking the players for their service. Both general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid spoke enthusiastically – and rightly – of each player on and off the field. The team also compiled a “thank you” video for Fisher and featured it on their website.
In response to his release, Fisher had such an encouraging and elegant departure from the team. On Instagram, he posted the following:
Fisher gives a great summary of his career and seems very grateful for the whole trip. He has achieved a lot in his eight years on the team, and will be a fan favorite for a long time.
If all of this – the statements of the team and the player – had served as the only message, this would have seemed very natural. After all, Fisher will rehabilitate an Achilles injury he suffered at the end of January for the foreseeable future in 2021. The team’s long-term left tackle fell against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game and was not available to play in the Super Loss of the tournament for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From there, Fisher’s status was in doubt for the next season – and even the most positive timelines still cast doubt on whether he would be back in the first half of the season.
It is difficult to understand the mixed messages behind Eric Fisher’s release from the KC bosses.
However, just two weeks before Fisher’s official launch, Veach took the podium to answer reporters’ questions before the off-season and looked promising about Fisher’s return. Specifically, he stated the following:
“Mitch recently had his record worked out, and we hope he’ll be back on the training ground, and the same with Fish. So we are hopeful that these guys will be able to complete rehab and be available for the training camp and start the 2021 season. ”
So Veach was forced to give an additional update in response to reporters’ questions about the schedule check, since Fisher being ready for the training camp would have seriously affected the urgency with which the Chiefs would have been forced to pursue a new left tackle. . Here is Veach’s answer:
“Rick [Burkholder] there is a return here in mid-August. You know how it works, it will always be determined until the player actually reports to the camp and goes through the off season and [we] see where he is. But the mid-August schedule was put in front of my notes here, so I’m going to pass it on to Rick about it and trust his medical experience. “
For some Chiefs fans, what is done is done. Veach said one thing and another two weeks later. Leave it behind. That is good. If someone’s level of curiosity ends there, so be it. But I can’t help wondering about some things here:
1. The Chiefs needed to save a significant limit space for this season all the time and the teams have been making moves throughout the months of February and March to meet the reduced limit limit. Although the official number has not been known for some time, the Chiefs certainly knew the general extent of that limit and could have cut Fisher in early March. Nothing would have changed.
At the time Veach painted some rays of hope that Fisher would return to the training ground, the left tackle was still relatively fresh from an Achilles injury. It would still be expensive, too. Nothing, at least in the view of those outside Arrowhead, had changed. So, did the bosses change their approach in those two weeks?
Did the Chiefs research the potential market during the month of March and decide that the best way was to clean the slate instead of waiting for a wounded 30 year old to be Patrick Mahomes’ protector? Did the bosses know they would do this all the time, and did they just deceive the press on purpose? Did something happen in Fisher’s recovery schedule that hindered you, thereby altering the Chiefs’ plan of attack this off-season?
These are all interesting questions. And they are all unanswered at the moment.
2. Fisher sounds like a man who knows that his Chiefs-centered chapter is over. This part is also very interesting because it does not seem to leave room for an opportunity to wait and see on the part of the Chiefs.
For bosses, however, it makes perfect sense to leave all options open. Fisher will get better and he was under contract until next season. Did the player change his mind and decide if the Chiefs were going to release him, so he was officially done? Is he more interested in playing? His Instagram post made it clear that he was finished and grateful for his time in KC, but he also said nothing about the official retirement.
The Chiefs have not officially closed the door on any meetings in the future, but they have also closed quite a bit as he walks out the door. It would be a little strange if he signed again after these kinds of statements and videos made in his honor, like someone showing up at his own funeral in some way.
There is no big conspiracy here, but it is curious to see what we don’t know and to compare the confused messages we received in March to try to put the pieces together. Are the doors open for a possible reunion in the future, with less expectations from both parties being in the middle? Fisher finished? If not, are we sure that he finished in KC yet?
What we do know for sure is that the Chiefs will have a new offensive line in 2021. We also know that Fisher has had quite a career and deserves every chance to enjoy his well-deserved riches during his eight years in KC. the rest, we may never know exactly how some decisions were made.