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General manager Brett Veach told reporters in Indianapolis on Tuesday that the team is "pretty optimistic" it can retain Smith, via NFL Media. Veach also noted that the Chiefs have "already had some good dialogue with [Smith]" and his agents at CAA.

Smith, 25, is the best offensive lineman without a contract for 2025, something the Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to do something about. On Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach was asked about how high a priority Smith was for the three-time defending AFC champions. Veach didn’t mince words.

The Chiefs might go high enough with an extension offer to keep Smith in Kansas City, though the Chicago Bears are just as motivated -- if not more so -- than are the Chiefs to pay Smith and shore up what was a dreadful interior offensive line in 2024.

Already carrying three eight-figure-per-year contracts along their offensive front, the Chiefs will have a difficult time re-signing Trey Smith. The right guard may well, depending on the franchise tag statuses of Tee Higgins and Sam Darnold,

"The Chiefs are not expected to place the franchise tag or the transition tag on Smith, according to a league source," Taylor wrote. "Instead, the Chiefs should do their best to keep one of their best players by offering Smith a four- or five-year contract."

The Kansas City Chiefs have won two of the last three Super Bowls but could be losing a key player to a lucrative deal to a rebuilding NFC team.