Trey Smith will not be tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs, according to a report by The Athletic, making him a possible Bears free agency target. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Trey Smith will be untagged if Bears can handle the competition

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Gene Chamberlain | Last updated Feb 19, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Let the Bears' cash start to stack.

According to The Athletic's Nate Taylor , there will be no tag for Chiefs free agent guard Trey Smith. Taylor's report was sourced and not fact-based speculation.

Now, for the Bears, it becomes a matter of getting together their offers. It clears away a hurdle to bring in a right guard starter but doesn't guarantee anything.

It becomes a matter of who has the most cash or is willing to part with the most for a guard.

The New England Patriots need anything they can find on the offensive line but their right guard, Michael Onwenu, is more of a tackle than guard at 350 pounds. Jacob Demontrey was at right tackle and struggled there last year.

The Patriots need to open free agency by giving Trey Smith a BAG.

25 year old, stud OG.

Make a splash on the offensive line. pic.twitter.com/e8CownVji6
— Savage (@SavageSports_) February 19, 2025

They have $111.9 million in effective cap space according to Overthecap.com. They already have Cole Strange and the left guard position.

The Bears are only seventh in effective cap space available at $53.86 million.

The Raiders could opt for offensive line help, and have $86 million available, however, Dylan Parham is manning right guard and coming off a strong season when he was graded 24th out of 135 NFL guards by Pro Football Focus.

He had the 2nd most pass blocking snaps of any guard in the NFL. Ofc the pressures are going to be higher. This is a bad way to measure it. It should be relative to the amount he has played. PFF’s EFF metric measures this. Trey Smith ranked 16th among 49 OGs in that metric https://t.co/LlCKl7PA5p
— We are back Ben Johnson (@TommyK_NFLDraft) February 19, 2025

Two teams named often as potential candidates for Smith have been Tennessee at $35.8 million and Seattle. The Seahawks are well over the cap and not perceived as real factors.

The Lions also could have an interest if guard Kevin Zeitler leaves but they also have linemen waiting in the wings for his spot.

The Bears' need at right guard stems from GM Ryan Poles signing Nate Davis to a three-year contract. He disappointed greatly and was let go last season. They had backup Matt Pryor play the position after Davis left.

Maybe the Chiefs aren’t tagging Trey Smith because they already have a long term deal worked out… pic.twitter.com/Wv9jXTxW8k
— EJ (@itsmine49) February 19, 2025

X: BearsOnSI

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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