A Vikings Dream Is Dead
With free agency only a few days away, eyes have turned to the free agency pool and the available players. For the Vikings, certainly, nobody was more intriguing than a man at a position of need who played in the last three Super Bowls: Chiefs right guard Trey Smith.
A Vikings Dream Is Dead
Smith, 25, could’ve finally solidified the subpar interior offensive line for the Vikings. However, the Chiefs say not so fast and use the franchise tag on their large right guard.
Ian Rapoport posted on Thursday, “The Chiefs are planning to franchise tag star guard Trey Smith, sources say. An intriguing move, as KC keeps one of its best players for $23.4M on a 1-year, fully guaranteed deal.”
He will easily slot in as the league’s highest-paid guard, blowing out the old mark of $21 million per year. Kansas City hopes to get a long-term deal done with one of Patrick Mahomes’ primary blockers. Rapoport continued, “The Chiefs hope to do a long-term deal with Trey Smith, and those discussions will continue. But for now, the top guard is off the market.”
Vikings reporter Alec Lewis (The Athletic) noted, “Had sounded the last few days like Chiefs were determined to keep Trey Smith. Vikings certainly were interested.”
Smith’s PFF resume is quite decent.
- 2021: 72.3 (15th/88 eligible guards)
- 2022: 71.5 (12th/77)
- 2023: 72.2 (10/79)
- 2024: 78.8 (14/77)
Now that the top guard is off the board, the Vikings need to find reinforcements at the guard positions elsewhere.
Colts guard Will Fries, Bears guard Teven Jenkins, Lions guard Kevin Zeitler, or Steelers guard James Daniels could be more realistic options, who will likely cost way less than Smith.
Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could also use the draft to lure a decent blocker to the Twin Cities. Tyler Booker (Alabama) or Grey Zabel (NDSU) could be options for Minnesota’s first draft pick.
The Vikings still have left guard Blake Brandel under contract. The veteran backup was inserted into the starting guard position last offseason. The move turned some heads early in the season, but ultimately, Brandel has continued to look like a backup.
On the right side, the club will lose Dalton Risner to free agency, leaving benched 2022 second-rounder Ed Ingram as the primary option. He is a strong cut candidate after three underwhelming years in the starting unit.
After the disappointing playoff loss, head coach Kevin O’Connell suggested that the offensive line would be a point of emphasis: “There’s no question we’ve got to find a way to be able to give a quarterback, especially with players like Justin (Jefferson), Jordan (Addison), T.J. (Hockenson), we’ve got to find a way to solidify just the interior of the pocket. There can be a thousand excuses made, whether it’s losing [Christian Darrisaw], or even midway through the game losing [Brian O’Neill] tonight, but for me, it’s the foundation of the interior of the pocket that we’re going to have to take a long look at.”
The Vikings have about $63 million in cap space to hire a couple of new cornerbacks and safeties, find some help along the defensive line, hire a new backup quarterback, and either re-hire Aaron Jones or find a replacement. In addition to that, Vikings fans would love to see some resources go to the offensive line.
Free agency begins on March 10th with the legal tampering window. Right guard Smith won’t be on the market.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt