The best right tackle in the NFL earned a payday.
The Kansas City Chiefs have signed offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz to a one-year extension, agent Mike McCartney announced Wednesday. The team later made the news official.
The extension is worth $11.255 million, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source informed, making him the second-highest paid right tackle.
Schwartz had two years left on the five-year, $33 million contract he signed with the Chiefs in 2016 and was set to earn $6 million in base salary in 2019 and 2020. The one-year extension keeps him in K.C. through the 2021 campaign.
The 30-year-old is the league's top right tackle and one of the best overall blockers in the NFL. Pro Football Focus graded Schwartz as their No. 4 overall tackle in 2018. Boasting stone hands and stellar feet, Schwartz is a wall in pass protection and can be a bull in the run game.
Through his first seven seasons, Schwartz has also been a picture of health, never missing a start in 112 regular-season games. In fact, he never misses a play, surpassing the 7,000 consecutive career snaps mark in November of 2018.
After four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, the Chiefs swiped the top right tackle in 2016. The $6.6 million annual average salary before the contract extension is pittance compared to what other (lesser) players are currently making. Two right tackles who signed this offseason are making almost double: Trent Brown ($16.5 million per), Ja'Wuan James ($12.75 million). Schwartz was also making almost half per year of what teammate Eric Fisher earns ($12 million).
Schwartz deserved a pay bump, and the Chiefs agreed while locking down a key player for an addition season. Protecting Patrick Mahomes is vital for K.C., so keeping one of the best in the league happy and around longer is good business.
