Deadline nears for Chiefs to sign star right guard Trey Smith to new contract or pay him $23m for next season

Daily Mail​

19 hours ago

The Kansas City Chiefs have until 4pm Tuesday to reach a long-term deal with Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith or pay him or pay him more than any NFL player at his position for the 2025 season.
The Chiefs used their franchise tag on the two-time Super Bowl champion, thereby giving themselves of another year of control over Smith. But by doing so, they agreed to pay him more than other guard in football at $23.4 million.
Despite Smith's reputation as one of the best guards in football, and the team's decision to trade All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears, a long-term deal may not be in the cards. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a base salary of just $1.2 million and a cap hit of $28 million in 2025, but those figures balloon to $45.3 million and $78.2 million, respectively, in 2026.
And with so much cap space dedicated to one player, it might be tough for the Chiefs to make a long-term agreement with Smith work, even after Mahomes agreed to renegotiate his contract heading into the 2025 season.
The good news for the Chiefs is that Smith did attend minicamp rather than go through a holdout, which has been a strategy adopted by other prominent NFL players. So while he may be eager to get a long-term deal in the books, he doesn't appear willing to jeopardize the team's 2025 season as part of that effort.
Smith and the Chiefs are coming off a Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles – something he thinks will make himself and the team stronger.
Daily Mail has reached out to Smith's agents for comment.
'I think you need losses in life to learn from it,' Smith told Kay Adams' Up and Adams podcast. 'You need adversity to create endurance. It helps build character from that as well. If you go and win, win, win, you don't have any negativity that comes your way, and you get used to it. You become complacent.
'I think that's the beautiful thing about a loss. It taught us how much it hurts to lose compared to how great it feels to win.'
Chiefs training camp opens on July 22, when coach Andy Reid expects wide receiver Rashee Rice (ACL) and first-round draft pick Josh Simmons (torn-patellar tendon) to be fully available.
'I think they're both ready to go,' Reid told reporters in June.
The Chiefs struggled at left tackle last season as second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia was benched and second-year pro Wanya Morris struggled. Thuney was forced to move from left guard to left tackle in the postseason with disastrous results.
Mike Caliendo and Suamataia are now expected to compete to see who will replace Thuney at left guard this season.