Report: Ex-Bills Center Mitch Morse to Visit With Jaguars
Doug Pederson might be turning to a familiar place in his search for a new center.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, ex-Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs center Mitch Morse is scheduled to visit with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Morse has also visited with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Since Morse was released by the Bills this week, he is eligible to sign with a new club at any time and does not have to wait for the new league year. Signing him would also not impact next year's compensatory formula.
Morse has a connection to Pederson after starting 15 games at center for the Chiefs as a rookie in 2015, which was Pederson's final year as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator. The Chiefs selected Morse in the second-round that offseason.
Morse, who turns 32 in April, started 49 regular season games and three playoff games for the Chiefs over four years before signing with the Bills in 2019.
Since then, Morse has started 77 regular season games and 10 playoff games for the Bills over five seasons, missing seven starts in the process.
Morse was released by the Bills for cap reasons earlier this week, ending a five-year run with one Pro Bowl and several years as a building block of the Bills' offense.
The Jaguars have seen 2022 third-rounder Luke Fortner start all 34 regular-season games and two playoff games for the franchise over the last two seasons, but Fortner struggled mightily in 2023, especially in the run game. As a result, the Jaguars are in the center market.
"Here's the thing with Luke. And he's started the last two years for us. A lot of games, if not all. And you know, there's strengths and weaknesses that every player has to has to work on and I'm not going to get into what we have to work on with him specifically because I think that's just a one-on-one conversation with player and coach," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"But he knows where he needs to get to, we know where we wanted to get to and it's our job to help him get there. And so that's in our power to do that. And that's what we're going to do and focus on this spring and make sure that you take the step in that direction."
