Another big-time player set to hit the free agent market at the start of the new league year on March 12 is now off the market. The Kansas City Chiefs placed the franchise tag on right guard Trey Smith Thursday afternoon, for now locking Smith into a one-year deal worth $23.4 million deal, according to multiple reports.
Smith has helped lead Kansas City to three straight Super Bowls — winning two — and was slated to be the best offensive lineman on the market, one the Pittsburgh Steelers might have been eyeing based on a comment from analyst Brian Baldinger.
Now, they won’t have the chance with the franchise tag being placed on Smith. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted it out moments ago.
Smith, a sixth-round pick out of Tennessee in the 2021 NFL Draft, went to his first Pro Bowl this season and was consistently one of the best interior linemen in football. He’s started 67 games for the Chiefs across his first four NFL seasons, missing just one game in 2022.
In that span, he’s played 4,434 snaps, grading out at a 73.7 overall from Pro Football Focus. Last season, Smith played 1,115 snaps and had a career-best 78.8 grade from PFF, including a career-high 80.8 as a run blocker. He allowed just 26 pressures without giving up a sack, too.
Baldinger, appearing on the In The Huddle podcast with Jason La Canfora and Carl Dukes earlier this week, stated that many people he’s talked to in Pittsburgh had hinted that the Steelers quietly had their eyes on a lineman who was going to hit the market.
Though it wasn’t clear who Baldinger was referring to, Smith was slated to be the best lineman to hit the market. After going through the highs and lows of the 2024 season with a young offensive line featuring the likes of Broderick Jones, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick, as well as veteran Isaac Seumalo, the Steelers theoretically could look to add another high-priced veteran to the mix, especially with Troy Fautanu coming back from injury and Jones slated to kick over to left tackle.
Right guard could be an area of need with James Daniels set to leave in free agency, so Smith would have been a logical fit there. Now, with the franchise tag being placed on him and the likelihood of a long-term deal being worked out in Kansas City, he’s off the market.
We’ll see if the Steelers still pursue a lineman in free agency, but one thing is clear: the Chiefs remain the Chiefs, finding a way to keep one of their best players on the offensive side of the football.
