{"id":228794,"date":"2025-07-23T04:34:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T04:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/228794\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T04:34:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T04:34:19","slug":"chiefs-made-trey-smith-a-steal-of-his-draft-then-gave-him-the-deal-of-his-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/228794\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs made Trey Smith a steal of his draft, then gave him the deal of his dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Trey Smith was in the barber\u2019s chair when he got the call that an agreement had been reached. The contract that would make him the highest-paid guard in NFL history was ready for his signature.<\/p>\n<p>Zoom! <\/p>\n<p>Smith couldn\u2019t arrive quickly enough.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did the speed limit though,\u201d Smith assured.<\/p>\n<p>As the Kansas City Chiefs opened training camp Tuesday at Missouri Western, Smith reflected on the four-year, $94 million deal that he signed on July 15 \u2014 the deadline to sign franchise-tagged players to long-term contracts \u2014 and shared how his thoughts immediately turned to his mother, Dorsetta, who died when Smith was 15.<\/p>\n<p>Smith stood at the lectern in St. Joseph in silence for a moment before composing himself and recalling the pledges he\u2019d made to his mom.<\/p>\n<p>After a few moments, Smith took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made two promises to her,\u201d he said. \u201cThat I would get my degree, and I would play in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t promise her I\u2019d be the highest paid, but I made a promise to her. My parents sacrificed so much for me to be here. So much &#8230; It\u2019s special. It\u2019s something I won\u2019t take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time, such a mammoth deal was unlikely, given where Smith was drafted. The Chiefs selected him in the sixth round, No. 226 overall. Blood clots were discovered in his lungs after his freshman season at the University of Tennessee, which dropped his draft stock.<\/p>\n<p>The issue appeared resolved as Smith played the first six games for the Volunteers as a sophomore in 2018. Then the blood clots returned and he missed the rest of that season.<\/p>\n<p>With medication, Smith returned to action as a junior and played as a senior, improving his draft outlook. His level of play was exceptional: Smith was first-team All-SEC both years, and he was considered an early-round talent.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>But his stock ultimately did drop because of lingering concerns about the health issue.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it turns out that the Chiefs got the steal of that year\u2019s draft, a player who turns up in the first round of most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pff.com\/news\/nfl-re-drafting-the-2021-nfl-draft-three-years-later-which-teams-would-pick-differently\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:draft re-rankings.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">draft re-rankings.<\/a> Smith has been a starter since the time he arrived in Kansas City, with two Super Bowl championships in three appearances and his first Pro Bowl recognition last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow great is that?\u201d Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. \u201cSixth-round pick, the blood clots and was able to work through that. &#8230; To be able to come in and play at the level he\u2019s played at, and the toughness that he brings with it \u2014 he brings it every game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith shares this advice to those fighting uphill battles: \u201cEvery day, come to work, 100 miles per hour. I\u2019d rather say whoa than go.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the mentality you have to bring as an undrafted or low-drafted guy. When you step on that field it\u2019s open competition, and I feel like I have to earn my job every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trey Smith was in the barber\u2019s chair when he got the call that an agreement had been reached.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,7,118,110,2438,2437,6,1216],"class_list":{"0":"post-228794","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","12":"tag-kansascity","13":"tag-kansascitychiefs","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-trey-smith"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228794","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=228794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}