The Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly reversed course on the rumors that they were not going to use the franchise or transition tag this offseason on their most prized free agent-to-be in Trey Smith. Instead, the latest reports indicate Smith will indeed receive the franchise tag.
Per NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, Smith is set to be designated with the franchise tag before the league's deadline to secure a player, which means Smith should be under team control for at least the 2025 season. The franchise tag amount for Smith will be $23.4M for 2025.
Most likely, the Chiefs are using the franchise tag designation to give themselves plenty of runway to work out a long-term deal with Smith's representatives. The team has used this same strategy before when trying to work out the kinks of a long-term deal with defensive star Chris Jones.
The Chiefs have reversed course in the face of an escalating salary cap with the news that they will use franchise tag on Trey Smith.
Earlier this offseason, a source told Nate Taylor of The Athletic that using the tag was off the table for the Chiefs when it came to Smith. Perhaps that was true at the time, but these things are malleable as new information breaks through or the market changes. That was true when the Chiefs were going to extend Tyreek Hill before new wide receiver deals changed the market rate and they ended up trading him to the Miami Dolphins for five draft choices.
The new information coming through in this case is the escalating salary cap that came in at close to $280 million—up nearly $10M over early projections. That extra cap space likely gave the Chiefs enough room to maneuver and now they need time to recalibrate the offseason's plan while allowing for Smith's return within the overall roster construction.
If the Chiefs are able to work out a long-term deal with Smith, it will be the fourth big-money deal given out to offensive linemen since Joe Thuney joined the franchise in free agency in 2021. Since then, not only has Thuney been paid handsomely to protect Patrick Mahomes, but center Creed Humphrey and right tackle Jawaan Taylor have also received deals that either reset the market or came close to it.
Even if a long-term deal isn't worked out, the franchise tag allows the Chiefs to control things from this point. Last year they tagged and traded corner L'Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans for a third-round choice. If nothing else, they could pay Smith handsomely this season and let him hit free agency next year.
The most likely scenario, however, given recent comments from the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine from general manager Brett Veach is that the higher cap will allow the Chiefs to bring back a homegrown talent who has turned into a Pro Bowl mauler along the offensive interior, keeping the best interior core in the NFL together for the foreseeable future.
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