Chiefs sign right tackle Mitchell Schwartz to five-year free-agent deal

The Chiefs signed right tackle Mitchell Schwartz to a five-year deal Wednesday, a source told The Star.

The news, first reported by NFL Network’s Rand Getlin, was later confirmed by a tweet from Schwartz.

“I’m excited to announce that I’ll be joining the Chiefs,” he wrote.

The brother of former Chiefs guard Geoff Schwartz, Mitchell Schwartz will turn 27 in June. Schwartz, a second-round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2012, has started all 64 games in four seasons.

Schwartz, who is listed at 6 feet 5 and 320 pounds, was among the top-graded tackles in the league last year, according to ProFootballFocus.com. His mark of 86.6 was the sixth-best in the league and is 19 points higher than the Chiefs’ highest-graded tackle last year, Eric Fisher (67.2).

Schwartz figures to be a plug-and-play option at right tackle for a Chiefs team that surrendered 46 sacks in 2015, tied for the sixth-most in the league. Schwartz’s pass-blocking grade of 86.8 in 2015 was the seventh-best mark in the league.

Schwartz also has some versatility, as he played 35 games at left tackle in college.

The Chiefs still have their primary starter at right tackle in 2015, Jah Reid, under contract for 2016. Reid, who started 10 games for the Chiefs, signed a three-year extension in the fall, but he has positional versatility and could play left guard or right guard, a position that might need to be bolstered following the free-agent defection of Jeff Allen to the Houston Texans.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Chiefs sign right tackle Mitchell Schwartz to five-year free-agent deal."