Arrowhead Pride
Trey Smith and the Chiefs reset the NFL’s guard market, so how does the deal compare to the rest of the league?
Major contract news broke this week, as the Kansas City Chiefs signed offensive lineman Trey Smith to a record-breaking four-year, $94 million deal, making him the highest-paid guard in NFL history.
Smith, 26, was the lone player remaining on the franchise tag, which the Chiefs applied back in March, and he was slated to play the 2025 season on a one-year, $23 million contract.
However, he now has a long-term deal with the Chiefs that includes $70 million guaranteed, the most money ever awarded to an NFL guard. Smith and the Chiefs had until Tuesday’s 3 p.m. deadline to reach a deal, agreeing to one just hours before that.
Smith is an integral part of a retooled Kansas City offensive line that includes free agent signee Jaylon Moore, All-Pro center Creed Humphrey, first-round pick Josh Simmons and right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
Earlier in the offseason, Kansas City traded fellow guard Joe Thuney to the Chicago Bears for a 2026 fourth-round pick, creating $16 million in cap space while reaffirming their commitment to the younger Smith.
Now, Smith is under contract through the 2028 season, with the four-year deal replacing the franchise tag that was previously in place.
I shared a prediction for Smith’s contract late last month, saying I expected him to reset the guard market. Let’s compare the prediction to what the actual deal became.
Back at the end of June, I projected Smith to become the NFL’s highest-paid guard, noting that he already held that stature after earning a whopping $23.4 million one-year contract on the franchise tag.
However, I didn’t expect Smith to earn a deal that topped his franchise tag figure, given that the previous top guard contract was Landon Dickerson’s four-year, $84 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Instead, I projected a four-year, $86.5 million deal for Smith with $60.25 million guaranteed, which would’ve been the second-most in the NFL behind Carolina’s Robert Hunt, who got $63 million guaranteed on his five-year, $100 million deal.
Given that Creed Humphrey got nearly 70 percent of his deal guaranteed and Jawaan Taylor got 75 percent of his deal guaranteed, I set Smith’s guarantee percentage close to that 70 percent range as well.
Smith got more than both of those numbers, receiving a four-year deal worth $23.5 million annually, which eclipses Dickerson’s $21 million salary by nearly 12 percent. Additionally, his $70 million in guarantees is nearly 75 percent of the total contract, coming out to a record-breaking $70 million.
Smith certainly got a strong deal to become the highest-paid guard, and all of it was new money, erasing the one-year franchise tag that was previously in place.
The left guard has two years fully guaranteed at signing, while a third seems likely...
