Per ESPN’s Matt Bowen, multiple teams imagine Chiefs right guard Trey Smith is the very best player eligible free of charge agency in March (subscription required). That adds much more credence to the November reports suggesting Smith could turn into the league’s highest-paid interior blocker if he were to hit the open market.
Within the estimation of SI.com’s Albert Breer, it would be difficult for Kansas City to stop Smith from testing the FA waters. In spite of everything, fellow O-linemen Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Jawaan Taylor are already attached to high-end contracts, and sources tell Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune the Chiefs are unlikely to maneuver on from Thuney. As well as, CB Trent McDuffie and edge defender George Karlaftis are extension-eligible for the primary time, and the league’s current preeminent franchise is already projected to be near the 2025 salary cap. Since Smith’s franchise tag number would check in at roughly $25MM for the upcoming season with a corresponding cap hit, that is probably going not a feasible option (the transition tag wouldn’t be less expensive).
Though Breer says it will not be surprising to see the club part ways with Taylor, only a trade would result in any 2025 cap savings (and given Taylor’s $19.5MM base pay in each of the subsequent two seasons and his generally underwhelming performance as a member of the Chiefs, it’s difficult to examine much of a trade market forming). That said, Smith is considered one of GM Brett Veach’s most notable draft triumphs, as the previous sixth-rounder has turn into considered one of the sport’s best all-around guards with a 75.1% run-block win rate in 2024 (h/t Bowen) and a 95.6% pass-block win rate since entering the league in 2021 (h/t ESPN’s Dan Graziano (subscription required)).
So, in light of KC’s struggles on the tackle spots, and since Thuney is under contract for just yet one more yr, Veach may try to seek out a method to keep Smith on the roster. Indeed, Graziano believes the GM will do exactly that, and he predicts the Chiefs will authorize a five-year, $105MM accord ($65MM guaranteed) for the Tennessee product. The $21MM average annual value on such a deal would match Eagles LG Landon Dickerson’s at the highest of the guard market, while the guaranteed money would represent a brand new high-water mark for guards.
If the Chiefs are unable to return to terms with Smith during their exclusive negotiating window, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (in the identical Bowen piece linked above) names the Bears as a team to observe. Chicago GM Ryan Poles was on Veach’s KC staff when Smith was drafted, and considered one of Poles’ top priorities this offseason will probably be addressing the inside of his O-line.
Biggs adds that it will be unsurprising to see the Bears becoming a serious suitor for Smith should the Chiefs decline to pay up for him. And, as one GM told Biggs, “[Smith] just might get to free agency. The $20 million guard thing really scares some teams. Teams have seen how the highest guard have been paid, and a few of them, they don’t wish to go there.”
Biggs does say a tag-and-trade involving Smith is a possible end result. The Chiefs are plenty accustomed to that process, having tagged CB L’Jarius Sneed last March before trading him to the Titans just a few weeks later.
