Couldn’t you theoretically get Fisher extended at maybe a better value now?

Like if it would have cost $15m AAV before his injury, I think it would certainly be less now just so he gets the security post-injury. So it’s not totally a bad thing for the team if that is the case.
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Of course you could but then you're not going to draft his replacement.

Extending him will almost certainly mean they're committing to him long-term.
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And you’re hoping that he comes back as close to 100% as possible.
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I will say this-

of the late picks and UDFA crowd, Prince Wanogho is intriguing. He has all the physical traits, he just didn't play football until pretty late. IF a late round guy was going to pan out, that's him. Looking at his scouting reports is encouraging. The criticisms are all technique, which can be taught.
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You have to.

Look, I'm not saying I like it but the Chiefs really have two choices:

1. Get Fisher's replacement and eat $15M in cap space this year or

2. Commit to Fisher.

As much as #1 would be palatable as a fresh start, it just isn't going to happen. There's no way they're moving on from Fisher given the myriad of complications that introduces.

Best case scenario in my mind is you draft an OT and pickup a stop-gap. Fisher plays out his contract and in 3-4 years when his gone, the draftee moves from RT to LT and Niang moves outside to RT.
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I don't think this is necessarily true.

There's nothing that says they can't extend him to a reasonable per year rate, and then trade him after the season. In fact, he'd be a pretty attractive piece for a decent team that just needed a decent LT.
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To get the cap savings this year, they'd have to add a couple of years and some guaranteed money. That would make him extremely difficult to trade.
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I mean trading someone after 1 year of a multi-year contract is almost unheard of.
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Why? He's always been a relative bargain. I mean someone has to take on the salary, but it's not like he's outrageously expensive for a good LT.

For a team with a short window, he could be a good fit.

I'm just saying, we're not necessarily stuck if we draft a kid and he plays lights out.

Which, as I've said, I want a Radunz/Eisenberg/Little type in the 2nd, and old man Peters on the bargain bin.

I'd rather have too many than not enough. That SB was hard to watch.

But I understand everyone does not agree.
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I just don't see it as very realistic at all.

I think the #1 reason they might take a tackle is because they don't think Niang is a starting tackle.

Other than that, I expect them to focus on cheaper free agents and probably draft a center and/or IOL.
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This would be a different situation though; not trying to get rid of a guy you don't want, just a guy you maybe don't NEED.

Usually you don't trade a guy you extended because you want to keep him. If you're trying to dump him, there's a negative reason.

In this case, he's a good soldier and a fine player, and if he's healthy, he's valuable and everyone knows it.

This would be a good problem to have in my opinion, because it would mean we hit on a young guy and are comfortable moving on from Fisher. If the kid doesn't pan out or just isn't ready, you've still got Fisher. Maybe the kid's the swing tackle in 2022. There are worse things. Fisher's got back problems now too; having a good swing tackle might be really important.
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Again, what you're describing is an ideal but ultimately unrealistic scenario, IMO.

Fisher doesn't have a history of injuries. He has no reason to accept a contract extension that essentially ushers him right out the door.

If they really want to be able to move on, their only real move is to let him play out the last year of his contract.

At the end of the day, I think they're going to have to decide whether they want to be more aggressive in the draft or in free agency. If they want to draft an OT, they're going to have to eat Fisher's cap hit and be less active in free agency.

If they want to save his money to be more active in free agency, it likely means they won't be drafting an OT high.
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I want to be clear though; if the team feels Fisher's going to be okay and be able to return to 100% I'm totally fine with not worrying about LT for another few years.

We don't know shit, but the team will.
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Yeah, they will have the best information available. They're not going to do this blindly.
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You aren't going to be able to determine that until well after the bulk of free agency and the draft. If we're deep into the Summer and Fisher has complications with the Achilles it could spell disaster for the 2021 season if all we've done is sign a bunch of veteran brokedick stopgaps.
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