It was a good run for David Bakhtiari, who reigned as the highest-paid tackle in NFL history until earlier today when Trent Williams reset the market by landing a six-year, $138.06-million contract with San Francisco. Clearly the distinction of being the highest-paid player at his position was an important one for Williams, who topped Bakhtiari’s record, $23-million annual salary by just $10,000 a year.
If Williams thought he could sneak one by Bakhtiari, he was sorely mistaken. Upon learning Williams had overtaken him as the league’s richest tackle, Bakhtiari hopped on Twitter to congratulate his 49ers counterpart for the well-deserved payday, but not without calling attention to Williams’ shameless one-upmanship, a stunt the Packers veteran described as “petty.”
Bakhtiari isn’t wrong, though Williams is hardly the first player to pull a power move like this, and he surely won’t be the last. In response to Bakhtiari’s tweet, Mitchell Schwartz (who was let go by the Chiefs as a cap casualty last week) admitted he asked for precisely $5,000 more than Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson in his previous negotiations with Kansas City. Johnson eventually blew Schwartz out of the water on his next deal, but at least Schwartz had a brief, albeit fleeting, moment in the sun.
Clearly the two tackles share a mutual respect, though drinks will definitely be on Williams when Bakhtiari and the Packers visit San Francisco this fall.
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