The Kansas City Chiefs lost their bid for a second-straight Super Bowl last season and there is no denying that a big reason why was because of injuries along their offensive line.
And there was no bigger loss to that unit than that of Mitchell Schwartz.
Widely regarded as the best RT in the NFL, Schwartz was the picture of durability, playing 7,849 snaps to start his career. Last October, however, Schwartz left a game against the Buffalo Bills with a back injury that kept him out for the rest of the year and led to an offseason back surgery.
While Schwartz hoped the surgery would get him healthy and ready to play in 2021, his recovery has been slow. The Chiefs, needing certain protection in front of Patrick Mahomes, remade their offensive line in the offseason, cutting long-time tackle Eric Fisher, as well as Schwartz.
Despite not being on the team, Schwartz has continued to help the Chiefs off the field, providing rookie guard Trey Smith with advice during the offseason. While multiple teams smartly showed interest in Schwartz, training camp came and went without him signing to a new team.
Will Mitchell Swartz play football this season?
Mitch stopped by the Arrowhead Addict podcast this week. We talked about a number of topics but in particular, Verderame asked Schwartz if he still considered himself an active NFL player.
“Yeah, I’d say still current NFL player,” said Schwartz. “You know, I’m in the last stages of recovery here hoping to kind of get over this final hump. It’s taken a little longer than I would have liked or we would have liked but once I’m 100% fully ready to go, I think I can make that decision and figure out what’s next for me.”
Schwartz went on to say that he is still dealing with pain and until he feels like he can get back the way he has felt the last nine years and play at his usual high level, talk of a return is kind of a “moot point.”
Even if Schwartz does get fully recovered sometime this season, there is no telling whether or not the Chiefs would be interested in re-signing him. Obviously, signing a healthy Mitchell Schwartz would be a no-brainer for the Chiefs or any other NFL team but the Chiefs have had to move on, and should Lucas Niag be playing well at RT, it might not make sense for the Chiefs to bring Schwartz back.
Regardless of how things turn out, Schwartz had an incredible NFL career and we here at Arrowhead Addict are pulling for him to get fully healthy and pain-free. Here’s hoping Mitch is able to get back on the field for the Chiefs or another NFL team so he can finish his career on his terms.
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