An early-August report indicated the Chiefs had Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith on their extension radar. The two-time defending champions have since given the Pro Bowl center a record-smashing contract, casting some doubt about their ability to keep Smith as well.
Despite Humphrey’s contract, the Chiefs are still interested in paying Smith, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. Smith joined Humphrey in becoming extension-eligible this year; the former sixth-round pick would stand to be one of 2025’s top free agents, should he reach the market. It will be interesting to see, given the Chiefs’ expenses on offense, if they can prevent that from happening.
Kansas City’s O-line overhaul after Tampa Bay’s pass-rushing rampage in Super Bowl LV featured sweeping success inside and some speedbumps at tackle. Orlando Brown Jr. did not accept a Chiefs extension offer at the 2022 franchise tag deadline, and 2023 RT free agent signing Jawaan Taylor led the NFL in penalties last season. But the Chiefs’ interior O-line makeover has made a considerable difference in the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl wins. GM Brett Veach signed left guard Joe Thuney, drafted Humphrey in Round 2 and then found a gem in Smith a day later.
Smith dropped to Round 6 because of a blood clot issue, but he has missed just one game as a pro. Last season marked a tour de force from the Chiefs’ interior O-line — which was just about their only reliable facet on that side of the ball in 2023 — as ESPN’s pass block win rate metric ranked Thuney, Humphrey and Smith in the top four among interior O-linemen. Smith, 25, ranked fourth in the metric and has seen Pro Football Focus slot him as a top-15 guard in each of his three seasons.
This consistency may make Smith hard to extend. This year’s guard market showed the value in hitting free agency. Robert Hunt broke into the $20MM-per-year club — a four-man contingent currently — among guards, and both Kevin Dotson and Jonah Jackson signed Rams deals worth at least $16MM per year. Smith’s consistency, along with his importance to the Chiefs, should put him in that range. It may well take more than what the Chiefs authorized for Humphrey — four years, $72MM ($50MM guaranteed) — to retain their right guard.
Taylor’s contract includes a fully guaranteed 2025 salary ($20MM); he is not an easy move candidate. Thuney, however, does not have any 2025 guarantees in place. Thuney, 31, is tied to the five-year, $80MM deal he signed in March 2021. That contract calls for a $15.5MM 2025 base salary. A future in which the Chiefs swap out Thuney for Smith as their high-end guard payment would make sense, though the team can still keep going to the Patrick Mahomes restructure well thanks to the western Missouri icon’s outlier 10-year contract. The Chiefs have already restructured Mahomes’ deal three times.
However they choose to manage this situation, the Chiefs are not giving up on keeping both Humphrey and Smith on second contracts. They hold exclusive negotiating rights with the UFA-to-be until the 2025 legal tampering period. Guards are rarely franchise-tagged, due to the tag formula grouping all O-linemen together, but the Chiefs would have that as a last-ditch option if they were dead-set against Smith hitting the market.