Chiefs In Talks With Trey Smith, Looking Into LT Options

Already carrying three eight-figure-per-year contracts along their offensive front, the Chiefs will have a difficult time re-signing Trey Smith. The right guard may well, depending on the franchise tag statuses of Tee Higgins and Sam Darnold, secure the top AAV among free agents this year.

While the Chiefs have been linked to losing Smith soon, GM Brett Veach will not simply let the four-year starter hit the market without dialogue. The three-time reigning AFC champions are in talks with Smith and will move forward with those this week at the Combine. The ninth-year GM said (via KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson) he is “pretty optimistic” about the situation.

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We have heard plenty about the Smith situation over the past several months. The Bears have been linked to reuniting him with Ryan Poles, who was on the Chiefs’ staff when they drafted Smith in Round 6, while the Chiefs are not expected to tag the guard. This position is rarely tagged, due to all O-linemen being grouped together under the tag formula, and the Chiefs will have until 11am CT on March 10 to negotiate exclusively with Smith’s camp.

Considering Smith has made it this far, it would take a monster offer to keep him from speaking with other teams. Of course, the Combine does serve as the unofficial tampering period. The Pro Bowl blocker will probably learn more about who is interested this week. A deal that eclipses Landon Dickerson‘s guard-record extension (four years, $84MM) should be expected, as the cap is again spiking by more than $20MM and Smith will have the advantage of being on the open market soon.

The Chiefs have left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey and, for better or worse, right tackle Jawaan Taylor tied to lucrative deals. Taylor’s 2025 salary ($19.5MM) is guaranteed thanks to a rolling structure that locked in his 2025 money as of March 2024. While Thuney is nearing the end of his career, he is the most decorated Kansas City O-lineman presently, earning four All-Pro nods — including a first-team placement last season — on his resume. Thuney, however, appears set to return to his best position soon.

Andy Reid stopped short of confirming Kansas City’s next left tackle starter was on the roster, but the three-time Super Bowl winner said (via Herbie Teope of the KC Sports Network) that is a position the Chiefs are looking into. The Chiefs could not count on the three players they initially tried at LT — Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris, D.J. Humphries — which led to kicking Thuney outside. That plan worked fairly well, helping the team to another AFC title, but the Eagles exposed it in Super Bowl LIX.

Fortunately for the Chiefs, a few options will be available. Veterans Ronnie Stanley and Cam Robinson are unsigned, while a younger option — two-year Rams starter Alaric Jackson — is also poised to hit the market. Tyron Smith is again available as well, though the decorated ex-Cowboy is a significant injury risk. The Chiefs are projected to sit barely $7MM under the cap, so they will have some work to do between now and the cap-compliance deadline (March 12) before they determine their free agency budget.

While it would be premature to give up on Suamataia as a starter, given his second-round status, the Chiefs may want at least an insurance option in the Donovan Smith mold rather than pit the BYU product against Morris once again.