Kansas City Chiefs are betting on Eric Fisher again

The Kansas City Chiefs gave offensive tackle Eric Fisher a raise, which took many by surprise. Might they have had good reason to pay up?

The Kansas City Chiefs made a curious move on Saturday when they announced they had re-signed offensive tackle Eric Fisher to a four-year contract extension, keeping him with the team through the 2021 season.

Fisher’s first four years in the league have been less than stellar, but there were signs of improvement this past year. There was a stretch of 13 games — per Pro Football Focus — where Fisher didn’t allow the quarterback to hit the ground.

The Chiefs’ new deal for Fisher is worth $48 million over a period of four years, not including his fifth-year team option next season worth $11.9 million. In all, the Chiefs have committed nearly $60 million and this is the wild one: it might include over $50 million in guaranteed money.

Multiple outlets indicate that Fisher’s extension includes $40 million in guarantees, and his fifth-year rookie option is completely guaranteed. That would mean nearly $52 million in guaranteed money for a player that ranked 36th by Pro Football Focus metrics among offensive tackles last season. That is, of course, if Fisher’s 2017 salary is not included as part of his new extension’s guaranteed cash.

Yikes.

My guess is that’s not the case, and the rookie option year is figured into the guaranteed money, but if it’s not, Fisher stands to have a contract where 5/6 of the deal is cash in his pocket. Even if it’s not, 66 percent of it will be guaranteed with $40 million of an expected $63 million in total money.

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This isn’t the first time the Chiefs have placed a lot of faith in Fisher. They made him the top overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, which in hindsight wasn’t the worst decision they could have made. Luke Joeckel, who was expected to contend for the no. 1 slot that year, has been a total bust in Jacksonville. Many of the other top tackles from that class have moved inside to guard.

While you can’t expect overnight success, it’s reasonable to expect Fisher to emerge as a top offensive tackle this year. With this kind of guaranteed money, he should be an absolute star at his position, raking in an average salary of $12 million per year.

That’s nuts.

The Chiefs feel like this move can pave the way for them to re-sign defensive lineman Dontari Poe and perhaps Eric Berry after that, so if that’s the case, all is well that ends well. Otherwise, this is a pretty questionable move that we’re going to save judgment on until we see improvement from Fisher on the field.

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