In an interview with NFL Network, Ian Rapoport said John Dorsey being released came as a shock through out league circles and Rapoport said the Chiefs and Dorsey were in contract negotiations with each other.
I'm purely speculating here, but based on what I'm hearing... I'm thinking the Chiefs owner released Dorsey because he thought that
- Dorsey was asking for too much (at least based on the job he's done)
- Chiefs are currently over the projected cap budget for 2018 and might need to release some players (speculation is maybe QB Alex Smith) just to get some cap room.
- The recent negative reaction by respected released players hurt him
The negative reaction by respected released players were
RB Jamaal Charles - One of the Chiefs all time great players
Charles mentioned how the Chiefs didn't even ask him to reduce his contract, they just straight up released him and that hurt him, but he's happy to get a chance with the Broncos (division rival of Chiefs... remember how people wanted Ted Thompson fired when Favre got to the Vikings).
WR Jeremy Maclin - Very respected everywhere he goes.
The Chiefs kept Maclin all off season, and then after he's in OTAs decided to release him despite all reports sounding like he's back to 100% and looking GREAT... but due to those 2018 cap concerns they released him.
Maclin's biggest complaint was that GM John Dorsey released/fired him by leaving a voice massage on his cell phone... but went on to say Dorsey claimed that the Chiefs were trying to trade Maclin all offseason, which Maclin was both surprised and extremely skeptical, seemingly suggesting that Maclin strongly believed a veteran like him, would know if they were being shopped around or not.
Then multiple media places questioned why they waited so dang long on releasing Maclin, when they had no reason to hurt his chances of picking up a new team or playbook, and because if he got injured they would of been on the hook for his year salary.
And of course this upset QB Alex Smith (and got a lot of questions on it), as this came out of no where... and they were already at OTAs... that's not when a good vet with plenty of talent gets fired.