This will break up the interior trio the Chiefs built weeks after their Super Bowl LV blowout loss, as Thuney, Humphrey and Smith began playing together — to key a successful O-line turnaround following the rough Tampa night — in 2021. With Humphrey extended and Thuney signed for one more season, Smith appears the odd man out.

Still, the conclusions to draw from those facts are not exclusively about left tackle. It’s also a commentary about what else faces the Chiefs this offseason: Trey Smith is set to become the highest-paid guard in football this summer, and the Chiefs already have the highest-paid center and a very highly paid left guard.

Just over two weeks from the start of free agency, the Kansas City Chiefs want to keep star guard Trey Smith. On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts at 7:09 mark), The Athletic's Dianna Russini noted the Chiefs are making the 25-year-old "a priority" before free agency opens on March 10.

The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly prioritizing re-signing Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith to a long-term extension this offseason.

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.