If you asked Kansas City Chiefs fans before free agency started how much one of the top left tackles would be paid, they'd probably say something about $13-plus million per year because that's the going rate for the top left tackles.
If you asked those same Chiefs fans how much a right tackle makes, we would probably predict numbers not far from that because people have been telling us for years that left and right tackle aren't all that different anymore and the right tackle market should be catching up to the left side.
Except ... the right tackle market has hardly changed in the past three years, let alone catch up to the left side. That's why the Chiefs can get right tackle Mitch Schwartz for $6.6 million per year while one of the top left tackles is making $12 million per year. Schwartz's deal, by the way, is one of the best for a right tackle.
This is a terrific deal for the Chiefs specifically because of who they play each year. A quarter of the Chiefs schedule comes against the Broncos and Raiders who for the next 10 years will likely having Von Miller and Khalil Mack trying to sack Chiefs quarterbacks. Those two pass rushers don't line up on the left tackle side. They line up on the right tackle side. Because of that, Schwartz is an especially great deal for KC.
It makes little sense to me why these two sides are so out of whack. The second highest paid right tackle is making $6.75 million per year annually. The second highest paid left tackle is making $13 million per year. It's not just at the top either. The eighth highest paid right tackle makes $6 million per year because the right tackle market hasn't changed in three years despite rising cap numbers. The eighth highest paid left tackle is making $10 million per year.
I can't explain the difference anymore and I don't really care ... until Eric Fisher's deal comes up.