Chiefs Lead League in This Intriguing Category

Hopefully, Chris Shea has a good parking spot at the University of Kansas Health System Training Complex. He might as well be the Chiefs’ employee of the month every month, at least until Patrick Mahomes takes the field in September.

Shea negotiates player contracts and manages the Kansas City salary cap. His current project is the long-term negotiations with Pro Bowl guard Trey Smith, critical discussions considering that the Chiefs lead the NFL in one simple category.

This week, ESPN updated its list of the highest-paid players and most guaranteed money at every NFL position. The Chiefs have three of them: defensive tackle Chris Jones, center Creed Humphrey, and kicker Harrison Butker.

While Kansas City has three, no other team has more than one, and Smith could easily become No. 4.

“Yeah, I just leave it all in my agents' hands,” Smith told Nick Wright on Wednesday’s edition of First Things First. “I got Jimmy Sexton and Tory Dandy at CAA. They do a phenomenal job. We have Brett Veach, the whole front-staff. They're phenomenal people. I love working with them as well. At the end of the day, we just keep working at it. I'm just excited. I know I'm coming back.”

He’s coming back as of now on the one-year franchise tag, which guarantees him $23.4 million in 2025. If Veach, Shea, Sexton and Dandy can beat the July 15 deadline to sign Smith to a long-term deal, he’s likely to eclipse both the highest paid guard in three-year average (Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom, $21.8 million) and the guard with the highest total guarantees (Carolina’s Robert Hunt, $63 million).

Mahomes, one of the world’s most popular athletes, isn’t even in the top six of quarterbacks in highest three-year average-per-season earnings. With regard to total guaranteed money, he’s the fifth-ranked quarterback.

But don’t expect the Chiefs to rip up Mahomes’ 10-year, $450 million contract any time soon. They restructured it early in the 2023 season, increasing his guarantees. Reports at the time said the Chiefs would pay him $210.6 million from 2023 to 26, guaranteeing his salary during those four years. Plus, he has another $8 million in incentives.

One incentive is winning, and Mahomes joined Jones last month in restructuring their contracts again to free up cap space and allow Shea to lock down players like Smith and linebacker Nick Bolton.

“Just ready to go back to work,” Smith told Wright, “and get back on that field and treatment, trying to get back to that goal, getting the Super Bowl. But I just leave everything to my agents, you know, let them do all that, all the delegation of that matter. But I'm just focused on being great and just being 1 percent better every single day, so I can bring my best to be the best player I can for the organization.”

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