After release, Mitchell Schwartz thanks Chiefs fans, defends Patrick Mahomes’ contract
The Chiefs released right tackle Mitchell Schwartz on Thursday morning, but hours later he was still protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
After Schwartz and left tackle Eric Fisher were cut by the Chiefs, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that Chiefs center Austin Reiter was expected to become a free agent and sign elsewhere.
Football fans began sharing memes of Mahomes and the Chiefs’ suddenly vanishing offensive line. Here are a pair of examples:
The latter meme about the 10-year, $503 million extension that Mahomes signed last summer was a common theme on social media.
In fact, after Schwartz wrote a goodbye message to Chiefs fans on Twitter, one fan responded by writing: “Patrick Mahomes greed is gonna end his career.”
Schwartz forcefully defended Mahomes by responding: “This is absurd. Look at Pat’s deal compared to any other QB, he set it up to take way less money the first few years than all the rest. We kept everyone we wanted and made the Super Bowl. The pandemic dropped the cap by $25-30 million from the projected amount, blame that not Pat.”
Instead of the salary cap increasing for the 2021 NFL season, it will be $15.7 million less than last season.
Schwartz, who said he plans to live in Kansas City for “the long haul,” wrote this farewell message to Chiefs fans:
On Instagram, Schwartz shared a slightly longer message that included this sentiment: “And lastly: the best fans in football! What a treat to hear Arrowhead roar from ground level. Week 17’s final few minutes in 2019 through AFC Championship Game victory was the most exhilarating stretch of football at Arrowhead in Chiefs history!”
