Unexpected Twist In The Trey Smith Situation Makes Bears’ Pursuit Tougher

All signs have pointed to the Chicago Bears making a run at former Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith once free agency opens next month. It makes sense. He’s the best offensive lineman on the market, and the Bears badly need good ones. GM Ryan Poles helped draft him in Kansas City when he still worked for them in 2021. Expectations were that the Chiefs would have to let Smith walk in free agency because they don’t have a ton of cap space to spare. They must reserve what they have to lock up key defensive fixtures like Nic Bolton and George Karlaftis.

However, there are rumblings that Kansas City would at least like to try finding a way to keep him. Does that mean the franchise tag? No. That would cost over $25 million next season, which is far too much. However, Adam Schefter of ESPN indicated they might be willing to try a different approach. It would involve using the transition tag, which isn’t an option teams look to very often.

Trey Smith getting the transition tag puts pressure on the Bears.

On its own, the tag is a one-year deal worth the average of the top 10 salaries at the position. In this case, it would be just over $22 million. It also turns the player into a restricted free agent. He will be free to speak with other teams about a possible deal. Kansas City will then have five days to decide if they want to match whatever offer he receives. The Bears did this with Kyle Fuller in 2018. They tagged him, he received an offer from Green Bay, and Chicago matched it. The tricky part for Poles is determining how high he’s willing to go for Trey Smith. He’d already be the highest-paid guard in the NFL at $22 million. Would they go higher to ensure Kansas City won’t match the offer?

Poles doesn’t like overpaying in free agency. As much as he may love getting Smith to Chicago, there has to be a point of no return. Is he $2-3 million per year better than Landon Dickerson? No. This will be a tough decision.