Trey Smith Signs Chiefs Franchise Tender

It does not appear Trey Smith will consider a holdout. He signed his franchise tender Sunday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This will guarantee the Pro Bowl guard’s $23.4MM salary.

The Chiefs naturally want this to be a placeholder, and an extension would reduce that $23.4MM cap hold. Kansas City did trade Joe Thuney to Chicago, but the team agreed to terms with Nick Bolton earlier today. This will still leave the Chiefs with work to do on the cap front.

One of just two players tagged this year (along with Tee Higgins), Smith now has a clear path to an extension. The Chiefs broke up their highly paid guard tandem — shortly after it became a high-priced duo — by sending Thuney to the Bears. Smith will be in line to join Creed Humphrey and Jawaan Taylor as a starting O-lineman on a high-end contract. Taylor may well be going into his final year with the team, as the RT has not justified his $20MM-per-year contract, pointing to Smith and Humphrey being the Chiefs’ pillars up front moving forward.

While the Chiefs viewed Bolton as a high priority, they have plenty of work left to do. Before the Bolton money is factored in, OverTheCap lists Kansas City as being more than $9MM over the cap. Even the Saints, who restructured Derek Carr‘s deal yet again, have passed them for available funds. Kansas City could turn to a Patrick Mahomes restructure for a fourth time, though. Regardless of how the Chiefs get there, they need to reach cap compliance by 3pm CT Wednesday. They will also need to carve out spending room to add talent, as left tackle is expected to be an area of emphasis.

Smith, 25, has been the Chiefs’ starting right guard since his 2021 rookie season. He climbed from sixth-round pick, who fell in the draft because of a blood clot issue, to Pro Bowl level. Well regarded by both Pro Football Focus and ESPN’s win rate metrics, Smith is positioned to enjoy his prime protecting Mahomes in Kansas City. The Chiefs will need to be ready for a monster payday to make that happen, and the Thuney trade will arm Smith’s camp with more leverage.

The Chiefs could not come to terms with Orlando Brown Jr. by the July 2022 tag deadline, as the now-Bengals LT declined a six-year offer he deemed light on guarantees. Kansas City gave Humphrey a center-record (by a wide margin) $18MM per year last summer. Smith is positioned to outdo Landon Dickerson‘s $21MM-per-year guard record. The Chiefs will have until July 15 to work out a deal.