The Kansas City Chiefs are making a move to reinforce their offensive line depth.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Chiefs are signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers LT Donovan Smith on a one-year contract that is worth up to $9 million. A former 2015 second-round pick by Tampa out of Penn State, the Buccaneers released Smith earlier this offseason. During his first four seasons in the league, he didn’t miss a single game.
The 29-year-old left tackle is coming off of what is considered a down year in 2022, after struggling with an elbow injury all season. He appeared in just 14 games (including playoffs), which was the lowest mark in a single season of his career. He also surrendered six sacks and 22 pressures on the year according to Pro Football Focus, both career-high marks.
Veteran OT Donovan Smith is signing with the #Chiefs on a one-year deal worth up to $9 million, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 3, 2023
Smith wasn’t a compensatory free agent given the fact that he was released by the Bucs, so the timing of this signing has nothing to do with the fact that free agents no longer count toward the compensatory pick formula. This feels like Kansas City is hedging their bets at the left tackle position and grabbing a player who has started 124 career regular season games at the position.
At worst, this is a valuable depth signing for Kansas City that pushes the competition at the offensive tackle spot to new heights. At best, the Chiefs just landed a starter who will be looking to have a bounce-back year in 2023.
