ST. JOSEPH, Mo. _ Eric Fisher is going to be a Kansas City Chief for a long time.
On Saturday, the team announced that Fisher _ the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft _ had agreed to a contract extension with the club.
Fisher has signed a four-year extension worth $48 million, a source told The Kansas City Star on Saturday. The deal includes $40 million in guaranteed money and averages $12 million a year.
"We were able to reach an agreement with Eric and his representatives on a contract extension," Chiefs general manager John Dorsey said in a statement. "In three seasons he's grown significantly as a football player in our system. He's a tough, physical presence and a leader on our offensive line. We look forward to keeping him as a part of our organization and community."
The fact the Chiefs got a deal done with Fisher isn't necessarily a surprise. For one, the Chiefs have a history of working with his agent, Joel Segal, who negotiated Justin Houston's six-year, $101 million extension last summer.
Also, Fisher, 25, is slated to earn $7 million this season, and the club also exercised his fifth-year option for $11.9 million several months ago, which was an indicator of the team's belief in his long-term potential. The option was guaranteed for injury, which means he would have been paid even if he were to be seriously hurt in 2016. In the absence of injury, however, the Chiefs could have cut him at any time before the first day of the new league year in March 2017 and eliminated his cap charge completely, had he disappointed.
But the extension is an indication that the team feels Fisher's best football is ahead of him. Fisher, who is listed at 6 feet 7 and 315 pounds, has played in 46 games with 43 starts in his three seasons with the Chiefs. He has seen time at both left and right tackle throughout his career, but is penciled in firmly as Alex Smith's blindside protector this year.
After struggling with injuries as a rookie _ the effects of which sapped his ability to add some much-needed weight and strength _ he started every game in 2014, got stronger that offseason and showed more aggression last season, when he impressed observers with his overall improvement.
Fisher is now tied with Dallas' Tyron Smith as the third-highest paid left tackle in the league behind Washington's Trent Williams and New Orleans' Terron Armstead. Fisher and Philadelphia right tackle Lane Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, are the only first-round picks from their draft class to sign extensions.
It remains unclear, however, what the extension does to the Chiefs' cap situation. They currently have $226,818 in cap room, according to the NFL Players Association, which is the lowest amount in the league. Teams can't go over the salary cap, even during the preseason, so depending on how the deal is structured, a corresponding cap-clearing deal might be necessary.
