Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Trey Smith is one of the top players set to hit the open market, but a recent report suggests he won’t make free agency. A sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Tennessee product earned a starting job as a rookie and never looked back, making the Pro Bowl in 2024 and playing a crucial role in winning two championships. As the best impending free agent guard by a wide margin, most believe Smith could earn upwards of $20 million per year on the open market.
The Chiefs might not have the financial ability to hand out that type of contract, but they can prevent him from reaching free agency in the first place. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kansas City could use the franchise tag to retain Trey Smith for one more season or trade him for a decent draft pick.
Tag time: Starting today through Tuesday, March 4, teams can designate Franchise or Transition Players.
It is expected to be a quiet tag cycle, with minimal tag options:
Bengals WR Tee Higgins
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2025
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Schefter: Chiefs Likely to Use Franchise Tag on Trey Smith
Paired with left guard Joe Thuney and center Creed Humphrey, the Kansas City Chiefs have enjoyed the NFL’s best interior offensive line over the past few seasons and don’t want to lose that continuity. Tagging Trey Smith makes all the sense in the world, as you never want to watch a borderline-elite player walk for nothing. However, will the Chiefs be able to sign their homegrown talent to a long-term deal, or is this just a band-aid fix?
As of this posting, the Kansas City Chiefs have $941,128 in projected salary cap space for the 2025 season. While they can create more breathing room with a few releases and restructures, they’ll need to do quite a bit of work to fit Smith’s contract on the books. Using the franchise tag on Trey Smith will come with a projected $25.15 million cap hit, which will likely use up all the cap space Kansas City can create.
If Trey Smith plays out the season on the franchise tag, the Chiefs probably won’t have the money to re-sign key free agents like Nick Bolton, Justin Reid, and DeAndre Hopkins and certainly won’t have the financial wiggle room to add notable talent from other teams. While the Chiefs have a talented roster, they must add more talent to return to the Super Bowl in 2025, and their insane luck in one-score games cannot continue indefinitely.
Tag and Trade?
Trey Smith is worth over $20 million annually for the right organization, but that might not be the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the reigning AFC champions could use the franchise tag to trade their homegrown star. The team was in a similar situation last season with L’Jarius Sneed and used the tag to get a third-round pick for their departing cornerback.
Looking around the league, the most likely trade destinations for Trey Smith are the New England Patriots and Washington Commanders. The Patriots need to upgrade just about every position on the roster, and finding someone to protect Drake Maye should be their top priority. Washington, meanwhile, made the NFC Championship Game with a rookie Jayden Daniels and a poor offensive line, so imagine what he could do with good blocking?
Main Photo: Charles LeClaire – Imagn Images
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