Anthony

Hitchens

Hitchens’ release creates $8.4 million in cap space for Kansas City. He signed a four-year, $45 million contract with the Chiefs in 2018. The 29-year-old linebacker started all 15 games he appeared in during the 2021 season. He racked up 80 combined tackles and four TFLs in his final season with the team. Hitchens will likely find a new home on a one-year deal.

Stuck on the team’s COVID list as a close-contact since Week 16, Hitchens will only miss one relevant game since Andy Reid rested all key starters in the regular season finale against the Chargers. Hitchens has collected 78 tackles and one pass defended across 14 starts this year.

NFL Network reports Hitchens was a “close contact,” and is not yet COVID positive himself. If that remains the case for the next five days, he will be eligible to play against the Falcons on Sunday. An every-week starter, Hitchens has played roughly two thirds of the Chiefs’ snaps this season.

Rapoport gives the linebacker a week-to-week timetable. Signed in March, Hitchens has not been great his first season with the Chiefs, but there is not much in the way of depth behind him on the roster. Already struggling against the run, this is a blow for Kansas City’s defense.

Hitchens started five games in place of McClain last year. He’ll likely get the majority of McClain’s snaps in base sets, with Sean Lee staying on the weak side. Dallas has Andrew Gachkar and Mark Nzeocha behind Hitchens.

Per ESPN’s Todd Archer, the operation is to “check the state” of Hitchens’ ACL. ACL damage was initially ruled out. Hitchens is dealing with a “tibial plateau fracture.” It sounds like the news could get worse. A 2017 return is beginning to look like a stretch.

The good news is Hitchens doesn’t have a torn ACL, as was initially feared. The bad news is the Cowboys will have to resort to knee-hobbled Jaylon Smith or recent street free agent Justin Durant at middle linebacker. We wouldn’t expect to see Hitchens back in the lineup before Thanksgiving.

The prognosis still needs to be confirmed by an MRI, but teams almost always know immediately when knee injuries are season ending. Hitchens had been starting at middle linebacker in the Cowboys’ base defense between WLB Sean Lee and SLB Damien Wilson. (Just before camp, Wilson was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.) The Cowboys are going to have to turn to Jaylon Smith for a huge role sooner than they expected.

Hitchens has an eight-week timetable after his scope. He would miss at least eight games if he goes on IR, but the Cowboys think he’ll return before that. With Hitchens sidelined, Dallas plans to take an accelerated approach with Jaylon Smith.

Hitchens needed further tests to check the status of his knee, but he’s been diagnosed with a tibial plateau fracture and is a candidate to open the season on I.R., which would cost him at least six weeks. Jaylon Smith has been working as the first-team middle linebacker with Hitchens sidelined.