Trey Smith, who was franchise tagged, wants to continue with the Chiefs: “It’s my home”

2x Super Bowl winning offensive lineman, who protected Patrick Mahomes for several years, wants to continue playing for the Chiefs even after being franchise tagged.

Trey Smith, who was franchise tagged, wants to continue with the Chiefs: “It’s my home”

Trey Smith (Image via IMAGO)

The Kansas City Chiefs put a franchise tag on offensive lineman (guard) Trey Smith after his rookie contract ended. After playing under the tag for one year, Smith will enter free agency, but the 25-year-old blocker wants to remain in Kansas City.

In Monday’s segment of Up & Adams, host Kay Adams invited Smith for an interview. During the FaceTime, Adams told Smith that he was among only two players who received franchise tags from their teams.

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Earlier this year, the Cincinnati Bengals tagged wide receiver Tee Higgins, making him eligible to earn north of $26 million. Higgins eventually signed a four-year extension, becoming the highest-paid WR2 in NFL history.

Smith and Higgins grew up in Tennessee, and Smith highlighted they were part of the same high school class of football players (different high schools). They came close to playing together for the Tennessee Volunteers, but Higgins decommitted and joined the Clemson Tigers, ending up playing with current Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne.

Adams asked Smith if there was anything he wanted to reveal about his potential contract extension.

Shout out to Tee Higgins, man! Two Tennessee boys—we were in the same high school class too, so really cool to see Tee getting paid… Ultimately, man, I can only focus on working out in training you know. I love Kansas City, it’s my home. The Chiefs, the fans in Kansas City, are some of the best people I have ever been around. You know, ultimately I would love to stay there.

Trey Smith told Kay Adams

The Chiefs placed a franchise tag on the 2x Super Bowl-winning guard at the start of March, keeping doors open for a long-term contract. According to Spotrac, Smith is set to earn $23.4 million in 2025.

Trey Smith reveals his thoughts on Patrick Mahomes taking accountability for Chiefs Super Bowl LIX defeat

The Chiefs found themselves in a great spot to record a historic three-peat (the first ever in the NFL era). They reached the Super Bowl in New Orleans and faced a rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles, whom they had defeated in the 2022-23 season’s Super Bowl.

Trey Smith, who was franchise tagged, wants to continue with the Chiefs "It's my home"
Trey Smith while facing a 49ers defensive lineman (Image via IMAGO)

Despite being the bookmaker’s favorites, the Chiefs got off to the worst possible start in NOLA. The Eagles took a 24-0 lead in the first two quarters with Patrick Mahomes not throwing a single 10+ yards pass in that duration.

The Chiefs conceded 16 more points before Mahomes threw multiple touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins and Xavier Worthy near garbage time. It was too little too late, and the game ended 40-22, making the Eagles the champions.

Later, Mahomes took the blame for the Chiefs playing poorly throughout the game.

I didn’t play to my standard, just with the struggles that I had early in the season. There are things that I have to get better at and they kind of showed today, on the biggest stage… We didn’t play great football. It started with myself and I will take full ownership of that.

Patrick Mahomes told the reporters

Adams revisited the moment and asked Smith to describe how he felt hearing Mahomes taking the blame for the Super Bowl loss.

It just shows what a great of a leader Patrick Mahomes is. In all moments you know him taking the blame in this situation and him taking responsibility, the credit, I know without a doubt there’s no one I trust more than Patrick Mahomes to lead a football team.

Trey Smith said about Mahomes

Smith needs to partly take the blame for Mahomes’ bad outing in the Super Bowl. Pro Football Focus graded Smith’s performance a 63.2 overall grade (60 is average) in the game. It included a 49.2 mark in pass blocking and a 71.5 grade in run blocking.

Smith struggled to block the pass rush and the run. He allowed three pressures, two hurries, and his first sack in 20 games on Mahomes. Eagles pass rushers Jalen Carter and Milton Williams dominated Smith throughout the night.

One can easily chalk off the Super Bowl as an anomaly in his CV. He has been solid for the Chiefs his entire career. PFF graded him 78.8 for the 2024 season, which included 70.7 for pass blocking and 80.8 for run blocking. The Chiefs should consider giving him a new contract.

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