Arrowhead Pride
The Chiefs’ franchise-tagged guard spoke with host Kay Adams on Monday.
With the legwork of free agency largely completed for the Kansas City Chiefs, the most pressing roster issue remaining is the status of star right guard Trey Smith. The Chiefs opened the offseason by unexpectedly giving Smith the franchise tag (at a one-year salary of $23.4 million). Smith officially signed the offer on March 10.
Smith joined host Kay Adams on Monday’s episode of “The Up and Adams Show” on FanDuel Sports Network. Speaking from a workout in Frisco, Texas, Smith seemed more concerned about hosting an upcoming youth football camp in his hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, as well as attending this weekend’s NCAA basketball tournament match between his alma mater, the Tennessee Volunteers, and the Kentucky Wildcats, than on his contract negotiations.
The fan favorite did reiterate his desire to remain with the Chiefs, who selected him in the sixth round of 2021’s NFL Draft.
“Ultimately,” Smith declared, “I can only focus on just working out and training. I love Kansas City — it’s my home. I love the Chiefs. The fans in Kansas City are some of the best people I’ve ever been around. Ultimately, I would love to stay there. That’s my plan.”
Smith and the Chiefs have until July 15 to agree to a long-term contract, or he will play the 2025 season on the franchise tag. Either scenario will likely make him the NFL’s highest-paid guard. No one could have predicted such an outcome as Smith fell deep into the third day of his draft class due to missing part of his sophomore season at Tennessee in 2018 after suffering blood clots in his lungs.
Smith shared with Adams advice he would give to other players who were disappointed with their draft positions.
“For me, I leaned on my faith in God delivering me out of a lot of bad situations,” he began. “I think the biggest thing is just keeping your head down and working. No matter how bleak a situation looks, no matter how bad it looks, not matter what the outlook is that someone gives you — you’ve just got to work. You’ve got to work every single day because someone’s out there trying to replace you.
“Understand that even though it’s bad now, if you keep working, there’s going to be light at the end of the tunnel. There’s going to be a success. There’s going to be a breakthrough. At the end of the day, you’ve got to put your daily deposits in. You’ve got to have swag. It’s not going to just happen. You’ve got to go earn it.”
The guard is utilizing that same mindset as the Chiefs try to move on from a devastating 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
“It’s painful,” Smith admitted. “It’s definitely something that you don’t want to experience — getting that close, working that hard, and coming up short. At the end...
