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Smith took a big hit in the first quarter and was ruled out in the second. Mike Caliendo, who is a significant downgrade, will finish the game on Patrick Mahomes’ right side.

Per Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald, the move clears up $12.5 million in cap space. It also makes the Chiefs camp compliant ahead of the regular season, with some room to spare. Smith remains under contract through the 2028 season.

Smith suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of Weeks 13-15, coinciding with the Chiefs losing their grip on a wild card spot. He had the worst season of his career per PFF grading, making it to just a 68.5 overall grade. He did notably play worse with the ankle injury in Weeks 12, 16, and 17. Smith remains a long-term building block for Kansas City’s line, but this ends a rough season for him.

Losing Smith for this one is unfortunate. The capable pass blocker will be missed against an ascending Cowboys pass-rush unit. Both Mitchell and Royals are healthy scratches. Gray was unable to practice this week, due to a concussion. This matchup should produce a high-scoring game environment.

Smith sustained two sprains on the same ankle in the team’s Week 12 game against the Colts and did not practice Tuesday ahead of KC’s Thanksgiving matchup with the Cowboys. It’s a blow to the Chiefs offense, as Pro Football Focus grades Smith as the NFL’s tenth best pass-blocking guard this season. The Dallas front seven has been much improved over the past three weeks.

Back-to-back DNPs have the star guard looking unlikely to play against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. He’s reportedly dealing with both “high- and low-ankle sprains,” per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. It wouldn’t be surprising if he missed multiple weeks.

The sprain is too low to be high, but too high to be low. According to Rapoport, Smith “is expected to miss some time,” which would include Thursday’s game against the Cowboys. The fifth-year guard has played in all 11 games for the Chiefs this season, earning a PFF grade of 71.4 on 577 snaps.

Smith had his ankle rolled on in the first half and immediately went down. He was ruled out shortly after halftime. The Chiefs will now attempt to pull off a comeback over the Colts without one of the best guards in the league.

Smith is dealing with back spasms. Head coach Andy Reid expressed some optimism that he will be able to suit up for Monday’s game versus the Commanders. Left tackle Josh Simmons remains out for personal reasons. Simmons isn’t expected to play this week.

The deal makes Smith, who had a deadline of 4 PM ET to agree to an extension ahead of the deadline for franchise-tagged players, the highest-paid guard in NFL history. Last season Smith finished with a PFF grade of 78.8 and a run blocking grade of 80.8 — the seventh-highest grade of any qualifying guard in the league. It’s an essential move as Smith has replaced Joe Thuney as the main cog at guard next to Creed Humphrey for the Chiefs. The guaranteed money tops Robert Hunt’s $63 million as the most for a guard as well.

The Chiefs franchise-tagged Smith in an effort to work out a long-term deal. The tag pays him $23.4 million fully guaranteed, effectively making Smith the NFL’s highest-paid guard. With Joe Thuney gone, getting Smith to agree to an extension will be imperative for Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and company. From Smith’s perspective, this tag keeps him from hitting the market, but he has plenty of leverage to work with as tagging him a second time would drain Kansas City’s financial resources in 2026.

These two beat reporters cover the Bears, who are in the market for help up front, rather than the Chiefs. But it is notable that the scuttlebutt at the combine is that the Chiefs will simply keep Smith. They quote a longtime agent saying that he “can’t see the Chiefs letting [Smith] go,” and state that the consensus amongst people they talked to at the event is that Smith would stay with Kansas City. The franchise tag will at the very least buy the Chiefs plenty of time to work on a long-term deal with Smith.

Had he hit free agency, Smith would have been viewed as the best guard on the market and one of the top players overall. Instead, the Pro Bowl guard will remain with the Chiefs on the franchise tag, which will pay out $23.4 million in 2025. Schultz reports the “goal” is to get a long-term deal done with Smith in the near future. Smith was a sixth-round pick in 2021 and has been among the league’s best guards since entering the league. Last season he earned a PFF grade of 78.8 and a run blocking grade of 80.8 — the seventh-highest grade of any qualifying guard in the league.

Pro Football Focus graded Smith as a top-15 guard in 2024. He has been in the league for four years and has never fallen below that rank. Smith is one of the top impending free agents, but the Chiefs may not let him get one foot out the door. They will work on a new deal as free agency approaches and could place a tag on him if nothing materializes. ESPN’s Adam Schefter previously reported that Smith is a candidate for the transition tag. In addition to the one-year contract, that would allow Smith to seek a deal from other teams, which Kansas City would then get the right to match.

Smith is expected to be one of the prizes of free agency after finishing with a 75.1 PFF blocking rating at right guard, the fourth year in a row that the 25-year-old has been above-average in their metrics. His only real demerit is the staggering amount of penalties he’s called for — 39 in four seasons. The projected transition tag for 2025 would assign a salary of $22,745,000 to Smith — a savings of about $3 million from the franchise tag — and would give the Chiefs the right to match any offer Smith receives.