Mitch Morse won’t be a center option for K.C. Chiefs after all

Earlier this offseason, it felt as if Buffalo Bills center Mitch Morse was on the verge of looking for a new team. Just two years after he signed a four-year, $44.5 million deal in free agency, the Bills were getting closer to the expected salary cap ceiling than they’d like, and Morse was becoming cost-prohibitive given the team’s other needs (and his own injury history). In preseason previews, Bills writers wondered if Morse could be a roster casualty.

Coming into this season, Morse was on the books for a cap hit of $10.3 million after a year in which he was a healthy scratch at midseason and he also suffered his fifth  known concussion. That’s a real conundrum for a performer who has also been pivotal in helping rebuild the Bills line. He’s also been right there for every step of Josh Allen‘s emergence as a franchise quarterback.

Fortunately for Morse (and unfortunately for teams hungry for an athletic center), Morse will be staying in Buffalo with the news that he agreed to a $2 million pay cut in order to remain in Buffalo for a third season and help the team take the next step toward their Super Bowl dreams.

Given his history with the K.C. Chiefs as their former second round draft pick, Morse made sense as a potential free agent target if released by the Bills. He’s a clear fit in Andy Reid‘s offensive schemes already, and his familiarity and skill set would have helped him jump right in and upgrade the offensive interior. Austin Reiter, the team’s starter at center for the last two seasons, is scheduled to be a free agent himself, and the Chiefs are expected to upgrade the interior line somehow.

Mitch Morse won’t be hitting the free agent market after all.

At this point, however, this is a moot point. Buffalo found a way to keep Morse at center for at least another season, and that means the Chiefs will have to compete against him instead of employ him as the Bills hope to supplant the Chiefs as the AFC’s rep in Super Bowl LVI.