Chiefs' Trey Smith Sounds Off on Upcoming Extension Deadline

Last week at a Kansas City-area high school, Trey Smith joined Patrick Mahomes in shooting the latest State Farm commercial. But if the Chiefs and Smith don’t come to terms on a contract extension by Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, Mahomes might need to find a new shooting partner next summer.

Smith isn’t worried. He told Kay Adams at last week’s shoot that players aren’t the only elite individuals in the NFL.

“I leave it to the hands of my agents and, obviously, the front-office staff at the Chiefs are elite,” Smith said on Thursday’s edition of the Up and Adams Show. “At the end of the day, I just let them take care of it. I just have to focus on being the best version of myself, being the best football player, and being prepared for training camp. Because St. Joe's is just around the corner and we don't want to talk about that right now.”

That elite front-office staff, Brett Veach and Chris Shea, might be getting nervous. If they can’t reach an agreement on an extension by Tuesday, Smith is expected to play the 2025 season on the $23.4-million Franchise Player tender he signed on March 9. And without an extension, he could be an unrestricted free agent in March.

Rules set by the Collective Bargaining Agreement would prevent Smith from signing an extension until after Kansas City’s regular-season finale. That means Smith’s NFL future will remain in doubt until at least Jan. 4.

And despite Smith not wanting to talk about the rigors of camp before he has to, his contract is a cloud the Chiefs don’t need hanging over their arrival at St. Joe’s (St. Joseph, Mo., at Missouri Western State).

Smith’s $23.4 million guarantee might be the holdup, Mike Florio said this week. While Smith will surely become the highest-paid guard in NFL history, parlaying that franchise-tag guarantee into future value is daunting.

"The usual approach is to fully guarantee the player the first year and second year (at a 20-percent raise over the first year),” Florio said Wednesday, “with two or three non-guaranteed years on the back end.

“Given the magnitude of the tag and the realities of the guard position, it could be a challenge to get a deal done before Tuesday of next week. For Smith, the choice is to proceed at $23.4 million in 2025 with either $28.08 million or a trip to the open market in 2026 — or to accept the team’s best offer on a multi-year deal.”

The No. 1 source for Kansas City news is OnSI. And the best way to remain up to date is to follow @KCChiefsOnSI and @Domminchella on X (Twitter).

Also, don’t forget to visit our Facebook page here and interact with Kansas City fans from all over the globe.