{"id":211829,"date":"2025-07-16T14:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/211829\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:50:42","slug":"after-re-signing-trey-smith-chiefs-have-locked-up-2021-draft-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/211829\/","title":{"rendered":"After Re-Signing Trey Smith, Chiefs Have Locked Up 2021 Draft Class"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Trey<\/p>\n

Chiefs guard Trey Smith is on the field against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 29, 2024 at GEHA … More Field. (Photo by William Purnell\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Kansas City Chiefs re-signed right Trey Smith, rewarding him with a massive deal.<\/p>\n

The four-year, $94 million contract includes $70 million guaranteed<\/a> and makes him the highest-paid guard in NFL history. It\u2019s the highest average annual salary and the most guaranteed money ever for an NFL guard.<\/p>\n

Philadelphia Eagles guard Landon Dickerson ranks second with an average annual value of $21 million, and Carolina Panthers guard Robert Hunt ranks second in guaranteed money with $63 million.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s new deal is not only record-breaking, but also part of a calculated strategy by the Chiefs to keep homegrown talent.<\/p>\n

General manager Brett Veach snared Smith, a future Pro Bowler, in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

That proved to be an exceptional draft for the Chiefs. Three players from that draft class have started more than 50 games, and the Chiefs have locked up all three stalwarts \u2014Smith and second-round picks Creed Humphrey (63rd overall) and linebacker Nick Bolton (58th overall) from that draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the trick: How you do keep them?\u201d Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. \u201cBrett\u2019s, he\u2019s the magician in that. I\u2019m just a spectator there. They\u2019ve played so well for us. You got to see what you can do with the contracts as they come up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August of 2024, the Chiefs signed Humphrey to a four-year, $72 million extension, including $50 million guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a heck of a football player, real good football player,\u201d Reid said. \u201cHe started off that way, and he kept it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then in March of 2025, they extended Bolton<\/a> with a three-year, $45 million deal, including $30 million fully guaranteed at signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been there for seven years. It feels like home,\u201d Bolton said. \u201c(They) welcomed me with open arms as a little 18-year-old with short hair, no facial hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chiefs also kept Noah Gray, the other valuable contributor from that 2021 class who could eventually supplant future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce as the team\u2019s No. 1 tight end.<\/p>\n

In September of 2024, the Chiefs extended Gray, the fifth round (162nd overall) pick in 2021, with a three-year, $18 million contract.<\/p>\n

Choosing Trey Smith over Joe Thuney<\/p>\n

Since getting drafted in the sixth round (221st overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft, Smith has been the starter at right guard.<\/p>\n

The Opening Day starter in 2021, who went to become a 2024 Pro Bowler, has started an impressive 67 games, missing only one in his four-year career.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs value Smith so much that they prioritized him over left guard Joe Thuney<\/a>, last year\u2019s team MVP. While they placed the tag on Smith, they traded Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth-round choice.<\/p>\n

With right tackle Jawaan Taylor on an $80 million deal and Humphrey already the highest-paid center in the NFL, signing both Thuney and Smith would have meant dedicating an enormous portion of the financial pie to the offensive line.<\/p>\n

And the youth of Smith who is 26 \u2014 while Thuney will turn 33 and only had one year left on the five-year, $80 million contract he signed in 2021 \u2014 made him the more pragmatic choice to retain.<\/p>\n

A Deadline Deal<\/p>\n

The Chiefs had put the non-exclusive franchise tag on Smith in February, entitling him to contract worth $23.4 million for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

But the deadline to extend him to a long-term deal was Tuesday, July 15 at 3 p.m. CST, and Smith would\u2019ve been the only NFL player under the franchise tag in 2025.<\/p>\n

The deal was announced on Tuesday just hours before that deadline. The down-to-the-wire timing might have made Chiefs fans nervous because a one-year, $23.4 million is not ideal; it could\u2019ve upset Smith and given the Chiefs less financial flexibility in 2025.<\/p>\n

But Veach was confident throughout that a deal would be completed.<\/p>\n

Before the 2025 NFL Draft, he said that he and Smith\u2019s agents \u2014 Tory Dandy and Jimmy Sexton of Creative Arts Agency \u2014 had extensive conversations at the NFL Combine and owners\u2019 meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we get that done. There\u2019s no lack of interest or will or desire on our end,\u201d Veach said. \u201cI\u2019m sure once things settle down on both ends we\u2019ll be in a position to continue this dialogue and hopefully make some progress there. There\u2019s no secret there that we\u2019d like to get Trey locked up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chiefs guard Trey Smith is on the field against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 29, 2024 at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[501,4220,7,1814,110,6,15,2887,1216],"class_list":{"0":"post-211829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-andy-reid","9":"tag-brett-veach","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-joe-thuney","12":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-nick-bolton","16":"tag-trey-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114863474239870078","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}