{"id":230417,"date":"2025-07-23T19:17:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/230417\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T19:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T19:17:13","slug":"chiefs-news-trey-smith-reflects-on-record-breaking-contract-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/230417\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs News: Trey Smith reflects on record-breaking contract extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> opened training camp with one of their core linemen locked in for the long haul. Right guard Trey Smith reported for duty after signing a four-year, $94 million contract extension last week \u2014 the biggest contract ever given to an NFL guard.<\/p>\n

While Smith\u2019s new deal makes headlines for its size, his response to the moment reveals a player still deeply grounded in humility, gratitude and hard work as he begins his fifth year in Kansas City.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the [franchise] tag [gave me] a tremendous sense of honor, in a way,\u201d he told the press on Tuesday. \u201cIt showed the organization had that much faith and confidence in my ability as a player. For me, I looked at it as a blessing at the time \u2014 and ultimately, we got the deal done. That\u2019s a great blessing again \u2014 and it\u2019s something I have to earn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the process, Smith never entertained the idea of holding out of team activities. His plan was always to be there, ready to go back to work and play for the team he loves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be with my team,\u201d he explained. \u201cI love being here with the Kansas City Chiefs. I have a tremendous sense of honor and pride playing here. I really love my job. I miss Kansas City and anytime I can come back and play the game I love, I\u2019m not going to hesitate to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But beyond the business of football, the extension represented a deeply personal milestone for Smith and his family. It wasn\u2019t just about the money. It was also about the journey \u2014 and fulfilling a promise he made to his late mother long before he entered the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my mom when I was 15,\u201d began Smith, visibly emotional. \u201cI made two promises to her: I\u2019ll get my degree and play in the NFL. I didn\u2019t promise her I\u2019d be the highest paid, but I made a promise. My parents sacrificed so much for me to be here. To have that moment with them? It\u2019s special. It\u2019s something I won\u2019t take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s rise from sixth-round draft pick to the league\u2019s most highly-paid guard is the kind of story young players dream about. With a new season about to begin, Smith stands as a testament to what can happen when hard work meets opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step into the NFL \u2014 [when] you step on that field \u2014 it\u2019s open competition,\u201d observed Smith. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to go earn that spot every single day you step on the field; I\u2019ve got to go earn my job every single day. If you have that worker\u2019s mentality, you give 100%. You try to apply what your coaches are telling you in your game every single day and just become a better player. It\u2019ll pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, you have to put the work in. A lot of days are going to be bad \u2014 most of the days are going to be bad \u2014 but those good days? They\u2019re good and they\u2019re sweet. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve just got to put the work in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kansas City Chiefs opened training camp with one of their core linemen locked in for the long…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[921,1603,346,4092,7149,7,29,118,110,2438,2437,88,6,144,151,11321,30039,2383,2340],"class_list":{"0":"post-230417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-arrowhead","9":"tag-breaking","10":"tag-chiefs","11":"tag-contract","12":"tag-extension","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-kansas-city","16":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","17":"tag-kansascity","18":"tag-kansascitychiefs","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-on","22":"tag-pride","23":"tag-record","24":"tag-reflects","25":"tag-smith","26":"tag-trey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114904161674798684","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230417","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=230417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}