It seems there will be no short cut to this Bears process of waiting in free agency to possibly make a run at Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith.

It’s likely they’ll need to see it all play out.

The Bears, Chiefs and every other team have the option of putting a franchise or transition tag on their free agents starting at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, but they can wait all the way until the deadline of 3 p.m. on March 4 to actually get it accomplished.

It seems unlikely Kansas City will immediately put a tag on Smith because their salary cap situation is at or just below the cap by a small amount now and also because Smith’s franchise tag amount would push them well over it.

The franchise tag pay amount for offensive linemen is $25.65 million and the transition tag amount is $22.74 million, according to Spotrac.com. The amounts can change slightly if the final league salary cap figure comes in higher.

One of the possible reasons it’s likely there will be nothing immediately clear from the Chiefs on a tag is they are awaiting word back from tight end Travis Kelce on whether he intends to play next year or is retiring. Kelce’s retirement could create a reported $17.3 million in cap space for the Chiefs, but it still would make it difficult for them to sign Smith because they have other free agents to sign, as well. And Smith’s deal is projected to be anywhere from $21 million to $24 million average annual value.

"People cannot have it both ways: Can't say Travis Kelce was a non-factor in the Super Bowl, AFC title game, that he's lost a step and was terrible this year… and now that he's gone, the dynasty is all over."

 — @DannyParkins on the Chiefs POTENTIAL loss of Kelce 👀 pic.twitter.com/TpDic0OzGt

— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) February 17, 2025

If Kansas City is able to be under the salary cap and does put the franchise tag on Smith, then the Chiefs have the right to match the offer from another team. If they don’t, then the Bears or any team signing him to an offer sheet would have to give the Chiefs two first-round draft picks in return for getting Smith.

They have reportedly given Kelce until March 14 to make a decision on retirement so since this is after the start of free agency by two days it would seem to indicate they aren’t figuring this into any tag plans.

Trey Smith casually doing murder on the football field.

Chiefs got such a freaking steal with him when he fell in the 2021 NFL Draft due to medicals. pic.twitter.com/anSo7tpfFI

— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) December 11, 2022

They have other ways to get money back for free agency and to be below the cap besides taking Kelce’s contract off the books for 2025, by restructuring some of their bigger contracts. Of course, that would mean Patrick Mahomes’ huge deal, but it still would be difficult for them to be below the cap enough to sign Smith.

If the Chiefs can get the cap space together, they could put a cap on Smith and then try to trade him. Again, they need to be compliant with the salary cap to do it, though.

The Bears will likely need to just wait until the March 4 deadline to know for certain whether they’ll have an opportunity or not go after Smith but sometimes word of these situations leaks out ahead of time at the NFL scouting combine, which is next week.

It’s expected the Bears will have competition in their attempt for Smith’s services should he get through to free agency without a tag or a new Chiefs contract. Key among those could be the Patriots, who have almost twice as much effective salary cap space as the Bears.

Other teams being mentioned prominently have been Seattle, Tennessee and Detroit.

The Bears are not expected to have free agents to tag this year. Last year they put the franchise tag on cornerback Jaylon Johnson but then agreed to terms on a contract extension giving him $76 million over four years.

Teams can officially begin signing free agents March 12 and can begin talking to them two days earlier.

USA Today predicts the Bears will land free agent guard Trey Smith in free agency. pic.twitter.com/zE8XkSZkTH

— Bears History (@ChiBearsHistory) February 16, 2025