![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/sportsaldente.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Trey-Smith-Faces-Deadline-Decision-as-Chiefs-Weigh-Tag-Cost-Against-Long-Term-Deal-1155x673.webp\")
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The Kansas City Chiefs face a critical deadline regarding guard Trey Smith, who is currently under the franchise tag.<\/p>\n
If no long-term agreement is reached by Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, Smith will play the 2025 season under the tag.<\/p>\n
This would net him a fully-guaranteed $23.4 million salary, making him the third highest-paid player on the team and placing him just behind Patrick Mahomes, Jawaan Taylor, and Chris Jones in cap hit.<\/p>\n
While Smith could secure top-tier pay for the 2025 season, the long-term future remains uncertain.<\/p>\n
He must weigh the guaranteed money now against the potential of a second franchise tag in 2026 or a shot at free agency.<\/p>\n
Given that his 2025 salary under the tag surpasses the average per-year earnings of any other\u00a0NFL\u00a0guard, a long-term offer must present significant value to justify turning down this year\u2019s guaranteed windfall.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s situation is complicated by the Chiefs\u2019 annual deep postseason runs, which demand significantly more from players than most teams.<\/p>\n Over four years, Smith has played in 13 additional games \u2014 all at 100% snap count \u2014 due to extended playoff appearances.<\/p>\n This essentially means he\u2019s averaging 20+ games a season, making his physical workload and injury risk far higher than most guards in the league.<\/p>\n This raises the question of fair compensation. Smith and his representatives may argue that playoff participation, which currently comes with modest bonus checks, should be rewarded more substantially.<\/p>\n A potential solution could involve adding incentives for playoff games that wouldn\u2019t count toward his APY, thus rewarding him only if the team continues its postseason success.<\/p>\n However, this introduces a potential precedent that the Chiefs may hesitate to set, fearing similar demands from other key players.<\/p>\n Whether or not playoff incentives are the sticking point, Smith\u2019s situation highlights a broader labor issue.<\/p>\n The NFL Players Association might use cases like this to push for increased playoff compensation league-wide \u2014 particularly in light of a likely expansion to an 18-game regular season.<\/p>\n For high-impact players like Smith, whose roles are physically grueling, the push for fair compensation for extended seasons could become a central topic in future labor negotiations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Kansas City Chiefs face a critical deadline regarding guard Trey Smith, who is currently under the franchise tag. If no long-term agreement is reached by Tuesday… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/sportsaldente.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Trey-Smith-Faces-Deadline-Decision-as-Chiefs-Weigh-Tag-Cost-Against-Long-Term-Deal1.webp\")
Playoff Contributions Deserve More Than Modest Bonuses, Especially for High-Impact Players<\/h2>\n