Keeping Up With the Smiths: Potential Chiefs' Left-Tackle Solution

Keeping up with the Smiths: Here’s left-tackle solution that might work for Chiefs

As Patrick Mahomes ran for his life against the Eagles’ four-man pass rush in Super Bowl LIX, many Chiefs followers wondered – as they did most of the season – where was left tackle Donovan Smith?

He was out of football, rehabbing a hip injury sustained while training in May of 2024. So, after Smith’s one-year contract expired following his lone season in Kansas City, 2023, the Chiefs’ revolving door of replacements resulted in a revolving door of pressure on Mahomes.

During the regular season, opponents sacked Mahomes 36 times, more than any year in his career. In the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia, the Eagles didn’t blitz but still registered six sacks, more than any game in Mahomes’ career.

Enter Smith, an intriguing option who’s now healthy and ready to continue his career. According to insider Jeff Fedotin, nearly half the league reached out to check on Smith’s status last season. Fedotin added that Smith, 31, is hungry and ready to help one of those teams in 2025.

A 6-6, 338-pound veteran out of Penn State, Smith initially signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Chiefs in May of 2023. Tom Brady’s blindside protector when the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV, Smith spent his first eight seasons (2015-22) in Tampa Bay.

Released by the Bucs in a salary-cap move after the 2022 season, Smith was solid for Mahomes and Kansas City in helping them win Super Bowl LVIII. He committed a career-low four penalties and allowed only 2½ sacks, although he missed five games with a neck stinger.

Even with injury concerns, Smith certainly seems like a better left-tackle option for the Chiefs than the Kingsley Sumataia-Wanya Morris-Joe Thuney committee Kansas City employed in 2024. He also seems like a better option than anything the Chiefs can find in the free-agent market or – outside of the first round – in the draft.

Head coach Andy Reid said last week the Chiefs were committed to returning Thuney back to his natural guard position, and the team was obviously in the market for a tackle. The Chiefs last week also placed the franchise tag on guard Trey Smith, replanting him next to three-time Pro Bowler Creed Humphrey and preserving one of the NFL’s best interior offensive lines.

The Chiefs will have competition for Donovan Smith in the free-agent market but they also have a leg up. The left tackle knows their playbook and their quarterback knows he can trust in the protection Smith provides.