Former Vikings OL Schwartz joins Chiefs

Offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz became the Vikings’ second unrestricted free agent to sign elsewhere, agreeing to terms with the Kansas City Chiefs Friday.

Former Vikings offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz has agreed to terms with the Kansas City Chiefs on a new contract, he tweeted midday Friday.

Schwartz was looking for an opportunity to start and that wasn’t going to happen with the Vikings, who were looking forward to the return of all five of their starting offensive linemen from 2012. None of the top five missed a start last year.

Schwartz is the second unrestricted free agent of the Vikings to join another team this week, joining linebacker Jasper Brinkley, who signed with the Arizona Cardinals Thursday. Six of the 10 unrestricted free agents were re-signed by the Vikings, and two – linebacker Marvin Mitchell and receiver Devin Aromashodu – remain unsigned.

Schwartz signed a one-year contract with the Vikings last year looking to get his career back on track after missing 27 consecutive regular season and preseason games because of a hip injury with the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and then a sports hernia that required surgery last preseason with the Vikings.

Schwartz was a 16-game starter for the Panthers in 2010, but his hip injury forced him onto injured reserve before the 2011 season even started and most of his training camp, the entire preseason and the first three games of the 2012 regular season with the Vikings were wiped out because of the sports hernia. He returned to practice only 20 days after having surgery to repair the sports hernia, but it took about two months before he saw his first game action.

“I’d been down for so long, I was glad to just finally get back on the field. That was more of a concern for me than not playing right away,” Schwartz said in October when he began to see playing sporadic time again with the Vikings. “I was just happy to get back on the field.

“… It’s just, finally healthy, able to get some film, get some snaps, they let me rotate a little bit.”

Schwartz can play either tackle or guard.

---

Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

---