Former Tennessee Vols star named by PFF as the No. 2 NFL player set to enter free agency
Pro Football Focus recently ranked the top 50 NFL players set to enter free agency after the 2024 season and a former Tennessee Vols standout came in near the top of their list. Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith is ranked by PFF as the No. 2 player in the NFL that will be […]
Pro Football Focus recently ranked the top 50 NFL players set to enter free agency after the 2024 season and a former Tennessee Vols standout came in near the top of their list.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith is ranked by PFF as the No. 2 player in the NFL that will be a free agent this upcoming offseason.
Smith played at Tennessee from 2017 to 2020. He was selected by the Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
From PFF: Smith's 80.4 PFF overall grade currently ranks 10th among all guards this season, and he will still be only 25 years old when free agency opens. That's a good combination for a big payday, given that multiple players at the position signed deals at or exceeding $20 million per year in 2024.
The complicated element when projecting a contract for Smith is the reason he fell to the end of the sixth round in the 2021 NFL Draft: He was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. On the field, he is every bit of a prized free agent. Factoring in his health is the key question.
The note from PFF that Smith's health is a "complicated element" in his free agency isn't really fair to the former Vol.
While it's true that Smith dealt with blood clots in his lungs while at Tennessee, it's not something that's impacted his football career since 2018 when he missed the final five games of the season due to the issue.
Smith started every game at Tennessee in 2019 and 2020. And he's started 76 games (including the playoffs) for the Chiefs since entering the NFL in 2021. His health is clearly not an issue.
There are some NFL insiders who have suggested that Smith could become the highest paid guard in the NFL this offseason. If that turns out to be the case, it seems unlikely that he'll return to Kansas City as it could be tough for the franchise to fit that kind of contract into their budget.
Tennessee Vols fans need to chill before they wreck the football program
This is not the way
