The Kansas City Chiefs are planning to use their franchise tag on guard Trey Smith, according to sources who spoke to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Smith was originally scheduled to become a free agent this off-season.
The one-year contract will be worth $23.4 million, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL over the Philadelphia Eagles’ Landon Dickerson, who signed a four-year extension last off-season.
With Smith under the franchise tag, he and the Chiefs have until July 15th to reach a long-term contract extension, otherwise, Smith will play the 2025-26 season under the one-year deal.
The #Chiefs are planning to franchise tag star guard Trey Smith, sources say. An intriguing move, as KC keeps one of its best players for $23.4M on a 1-year, fully guaranteed deal. pic.twitter.com/IOnctKg7WE
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 27, 2025
“He’s obviously at the top of the list. We’ve already had some good dialogue with him,” said Chiefs general manager Brett Veach earlier this week. “Obviously, a lot to work through. This is the time to do that and, again, we’ve already had some initial dialogue. That will continue on this week a the days to come leading up to free agency. We’ll certainly do what we can and feel pretty optimistic about our possibilities there.”
Since joining Kansas City in 2021, Smith has started in 79 of the Chiefs’ 80 games, including the playoffs. The only game he missed in his NFL career came in Week Five of the 2022-23 season.
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The Chiefs have to make some tough financial decisions
Kansas City only had $5.7 million in free cap space coming into this off-season, so franchise-tagging Smith and paying him $23 million will put the Chiefs in the red this year. Therefore, they’ll need to trim some of the fat and let some people go or restructure contracts to free up enough cap space to tag Smith AND sign free agents or draft picks.
If some of the team’s more veteran players take pay cuts, then they could easily afford Smith. Tight end Travis Kelce’s cap hit is expected to be $19.8 million. If he reworks his contract, since he’ll reportedly be taking on a reduced role this season, that could make Smith’s deal viable. Offensive lineman Joe Thuney is another person who could restructure his contract, considering he’ll have an almost $27 million cap hit this season. Even quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has a $66.2 million cap hit, can show how much of a team player he is by reworking his deal.
I reached out to source(s) on the future of @tkelce..
Source(s) said I’M COMING BACK FOR SURE..
I’m gonna get in the best shape of my life this offseason..
I’ve got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and I can’t go out like that!!!! #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/HqfpdqEjqa
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 27, 2025
Since it’ll be difficult to convince some of your more experienced players to take pay cuts, the Chiefs will probably have to cut some people to make room for Smith’s contract. Wide receiver Skyy Moore could be a cap casualty, saving KC roughly $2 million. As unlikely as it seems, Travis Kelce could be cut this off-season, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Realistically, though, this will only work for the Chiefs if Patrick Mahomes makes a financial sacrifice and takes a serious pay cut. This will be a good test of his commitment to the team and to winning.
A huge blow to the free-agent offensive line market
Many media outlets considered Trey Smith to be the best offensive lineman in the 2025 free-agent class. In fact, Smith was the top-rated free-agent offensive lineman, according to Fox Sports, NFL.com, and ESPN. When three different sports news organizations say a guy is the best at his position, it’s safe to say that he is the best player at his position.
TREY. SMITH. pic.twitter.com/TzAmdSpx0M
— CHGO Sports (@CHGO_Sports) February 27, 2025
The Chicago Bears likely would have targeted Smith after rookie quarterback Caleb Williams took the third-most sacks ever in a single season (68). Now that the top free-agent offensive lineman is off the board, Chicago will have to consider other options like the Rams’ Will Fries or the Eagles’ Mekhi Becton. Re-signing fourth-year guard Teven Jenkins might even be on the table.
The Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens, and New York Giants will also all have to go looking elsewhere to fill their interior offensive line needs. Whether it be through the draft or free agency, all of those squads will almost certainly add linemen this off-season.
