Report: KC Chiefs Agree to One-Year Contract With TE Irv Smith Jr.
Through the first 24 hours of the NFL's free agency legal tampering period, the Kansas City Chiefs, activity was relatively minimal. In hour No. 25, however, general manager Brett Veach is setting up an addition to add some depth to Andy Reid's offense.
Per a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Kansas City has reached an agreement on a one-year deal with tight end Irv Smith Jr. Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team reports that the contract is worth $1.3 million. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston shares that the deal comes with $384,000 in guaranteed money and a $167,500 first-game roster bonus.
Smith, the 50th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, was a former standout in college with the Alabama Crimson Tide. In his first three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, he hauled in 91 passes for 858 yards and nine touchdowns. The 25-year-old missed all of the 2021 campaign with a knee injury, later going on to return for 2022 but failing to replicate his previous impact.
Prior to the start of the 2023 campaign, Smith signed a one-year pact with the Cincinnati Bengals. The deal carried a $1.25 million base salary and accounted for a $1.75M cap hit. During his lone season with the Bengals, Smith was targeted 26 times in 12 games and had 18 catches for 115 yards and a score. Cincinnati opted against re-signing him upon the expiration of his deal, seeing him now land in Kansas City.
On Tuesday, Arrowhead Report's Joshua Brisco offered his initial thoughts on the reported Smith move that will be finalized once free agency begins later this week:
Still just 25 years old (turning 26 in August), the former second-round pick from the 2019 NFL Draft is a very Chief-y addition by general manager Brett Veach's standards. Smith has been useful in limited roles in his NFL career, and he provides more pass-catching upside than most of the Chiefs' third tight ends in recent years. With tight end Blake Bell hitting free agency at age 32 and 28-year-old Jody Fortson not receiving an RFA tender (with the Chiefs reportedly looking to bring him back cheaply in free agency), Smith immediately slots in as KC's TE3, with a chance to see the field behind Travis Kelce and Noah Gray.
Peripherals for Smith's profile aren't particularly kind. During the pre-draft process, he posted a 4.78 Relative Athletic Score due to being an undersized (6'2", 242 pounds) player with poor explosiveness testing grades. This past season, he also put up the worst Pro Football Focus grades of his career for composite offense (44.2), receiving (42.8) and drops (55.9). Nevertheless, this is a solid depth pickup for the Chiefs' tight end room.
