Chiefs’ Shocking Cut: $105 Million Pro-Bowler’s Time in KC Coming to an End

Coming off a Super Bowl defeat, the Kansas City Chiefs have to decide how much future payroll to mortgage in order to keep the band together.

 

The Chiefs have some major talents hitting the free-agent market this spring, and not a ton of financial wiggle room to keep them in town. They’ll be able to create flexibility by restructuring contracts, but as of Monday, they have just $7.9 million in projected 2025 cap space.

Meanwhile, Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith is headed for perhaps the biggest payday in the history of his position. ESPN’s Dan Graziano projected him for a five-year, $105 million deal last month, a $2.5 million improvement on the biggest contract a guard has ever received.

Will the Chiefs be able to keep Smith around? A pair of ESPN analysts don’t seem to think so.

On a recent episode of The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, guest Kevin Clark speculated that Smith’s contract would prove too pricy for Kansas City to justify paying him market rate.

“I just think they have so many holes. It’s hard for me to guess, but I’m gonna guess Trey Smith walks,” Clark said. “He’s gonna be so expensive.”

Host Mina Kimes agreed with Clark and added that the franchise tag, which could be deployed to keep Smith around on a one-year contract, didn’t seem feasible. The Chiefs have indicated they won’t use the tag on Smith, per Nate Taylor of The Athletic.

“It’s just the price,” Kimes said. “And I don’t think the tag is an option… There’s quite a few teams I could think of that need interior offensive line help that might be willing to break the bank.”

With teams like the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears possessing exponentially more cap space than the Chiefs and having obvious holes at guard, it’s not hard to see that $105 million figure being reached or surpassed.

Kansas City will have to play serious hardball if they want Smith to stick around.