The Kansas City Chiefs are signing former Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith to a four-year, $94 million extension that includes $70 million guaranteed, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Under this new deal, Smith will be the highest-paid guard in the National Football League.

Back in February, the Chiefs used their franchise tag on Trey Smith, meaning he would play the upcoming season on a one-year, $23.4 million contract if the two sides didn’t get a deal done before the 4 p.m. EDT deadline on July 15th. Now, though, with the long-term deal in place, Smith will avoid playing this season under the franchise tag.

Sources: The #Chiefs and franchise tagged G Trey Smith are putting the final touches on a massive new extension to make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.

He gets 4-year deal done by Tory Dandy and Jimmy Sexton of CAA, to take away the tag and lock him in. pic.twitter.com/UZ8OLkrXGd

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 15, 2025

“There’s no lack of interest or will or desire on our end, and we did have a ton of talks with Tory (Dandy) and Jimmy (Sexton) – his agents – at the combine,” said Chiefs general manager Brett Veach during an April interview. “Those conversations continued on to the owner’s meetings… We’ve exchanged multiple phone calls, multiple emails. My guess is once the draft’s over, our focus is back on taking care of the players that are here and trying to get those guys locked up.”

At just 26 years old, Trey Smith has already established himself as one of the best guards in the NFL. He only surrendered two sacks last season, and those came in the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LIX. Additionally, he is a two-time Super Bowl champion and a former Pro Bowler.

The Chiefs had no other choice

Kansas City was always going to get this deal done. But, they’re not signing a one-time Pro Bowler to the most lucrative guard contract in the NFL because he’s the league’s best. The Chiefs are signing Smith to this deal because he’s the best guard THEY HAVE.

The best offensive lineman in Kansas City is undoubtedly center Creed Humphrey. After him, it was four-time All-Pro Joe Thuney, but KC traded him away this off-season, in all likelihood, so that they could extend Trey Smith. They were also able to easily part ways with Joe Thuney because he was their left tackle last season, and he was absolutely abused by the Eagles’ defensive line in Super Bowl LIX. As a result, Kansas City let Thuney go so that it could revamp the offensive line.

There is only one flaw in the Chiefs’ plan: they didn’t actually make any noticeable improvements to the offensive line. Kansas City is bringing back four of the five starters who allowed Patrick Mahomes to be sacked a career-high six times in the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, one could argue they downgraded their left tackle spot because they’re replacing a former All-Pro starter with either a rookie or Jaylon Moore, a guy who has only started 12 games since being drafted in 2021.

Highest guarantees given to a guard:
G Trey Smith $70 million
G Robert Hunt    $63M
G Chris Lindstrom $62.7M

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2025

I’ve never been one to question the Chiefs’ leadership during the Andy Reid era, but this signing doesn’t feel like a move they wanted to make. Instead, it feels like a move that KC was forced to make. There was no way the Chiefs were going to pay their second-best offensive lineman $23.4 million just for him to potentially leave next off-season in free agency. If that had happened, then their offensive line would be in even worse shape than it is currently.

Unfortunately for Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs fans, Kansas City’s offensive line is no better now than it was during Super Bowl LIX. I would actually say that the unit is worse because they lost an All-Pro-caliber left tackle. With the loss of Joe Thuney and the need for Kansas City to continue to compete for Super Bowls during Patrick Mahomes’ prime, the Chiefs had no other choice but to make Trey Smith the highest-paid guard in the NFL, even if he is far from the league’s best guard.