The Kansas City Chiefs have the best interior offensive line in football, but they could lose a key piece in guard Trey Smith. A sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Tennessee product immediately overcame his unremarkable draft capital to establish himself as one of the best players at his position. A 17-game starter as a rookie, Smith finished his inaugural campaign with the 15th-best PFF grade among 82 eligible guard and has only improved as his career progressed. Now in the final year of his deal, the Chiefs could lose their homegrown star once he hits free agency.
Kansas City has one of the most talented rosters in football, but the salary cap ensures teams that draft well cannot retain all of their stars. The Chiefs already handed out a record-setting contract to center Creed Humphrey and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the team thought it would be “far too costly” to hand out market-setting contracts to both Humphrey and Trey Smith. As Smith’s value has only risen since the offseason, the veteran is destined to leave for the highest bidder and could land with the Baltimore Ravens or New Orleans Saints.
Chiefs Could Lose Trey Smith to Ravens, Saints
The Baltimore Ravens entered the offseason without the cap space to keep everyone from their loaded 2023 roster. While they have largely done a commendable job of finding cost-effective replacements for their departed starters, they could use more help at guard. With Pro Bowler Kevin Zeitler in Detroit and John Simpson on the New York Jets, the Ravens had to turn to Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele. These two have not been up to the task, as Baltimore is winning games despite this subpar play. Trey Smith would be a sizable upgrade for a team that should contend for years to come, assuming they can afford him.
As of this posting, the Ravens are projected to have $17.3 million in salary cap space next year. This is more than enough space to bring on a big-name free agent, especially when Baltimore could easily raise that number with a few releases and contract restructures. While they have a few impending free agents, it’s nothing like what they lost last year. The team should be able to re-sign Ronnie Stanley while replacing Patrick Mekari with second-round pick Roger Rosengarten. Giving Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry an elite offensive line should create the most unstoppable rushing attack in football.
Saints Money Magic
The New Orleans Saints need a new offensive line in the worst way. While a healthy unit held up decently well through the first two weeks of the season, the present-day iteration has four glaring weaknesses. Left tackle Taliese Fuaga is doing his part, but everyone else is an active liability. Center Erik McCoy will be back to stabilize the interior at some point, but the Saints don’t have a long-term answer at guard. Lucas Patrick is a free agent, Cesar Ruiz is nothing special, and Landon Young has not made the most of his opportunities. Trey Smith would be a perfect choice for a team that refuses to rebuild, and nobody is better at manipulating the salary cap than Mickey Loomis.
The Saints are currently projected to be over the 2025 salary cap by a staggering $81.4 million. This would put any other team out of the Trey Smith sweepstakes, but this is familiar territory for New Orleans. In what’s become an annual tradition, New Orleans always enters the offseason with an absurd amount of dead money and kicks the can further down the road. They’ll do the same before March of 2025 and should have the financial capacity to go after Kansas City’s star guard.
Main Photo: Denny Medley – USA Today Sports
