The Kansas City Chiefs will likely have two new starting offensive tackles in front of reigning NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes during the coming campaign.
Earlier in the offseason, Kansas City signed 25-year-old right tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million contract. When that deal was agreed upon, Taylor was expected to move to left tackle as a replacement for Orlando Brown Jr., who had signed a huge deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now, that shift for Taylor is unlikely to happen, as NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday that the defending champions have signed longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $9 million.
Smith, 29, played exlusively at left tackle during his eight-year career in Tampa Bay, before suffering a surprise release earlier this offseason. During that span, he started all 124 games in which he appeared.
In addition to the line additions of Taylor and Smith, Kansas City used a third-round pick on Oklahoma product Wanya Morris in the 2023 NFL Draft. The hope is that he can eventually slide to right tackle, with Taylor doing his thing protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside in 2024.
For now, that duty will fall on the aforementioned Smith. While he suffered through injuries last season, the veteran tackle has been stellar in pass protection throughout his career. Back in 2021, Smith gave up just one sack in front of Tom Brady. Kansas City would presumably be hoping for similar production in 2023.
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