The Kansas City Chiefs will likely have two new starting offensive tackles in front of reigning NFL and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes this coming season.
Earlier in the offseason, Kansas City signed 25-year-old right tackle Jawaan Taylor to a four-year, $80 million contract. At that point, Taylor was expected to move to left tackle as a replacement for Orlando Brown Jr., who signed a huge deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now, that’s unlikely to happen. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday that Kansas City has signed longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $9 million.
Smith, 29, played exlusively at left tackle during his eight-year career in Tampa before being a surprise release earlier this offseason. He started all 124 games in which he appeared during that span.
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In addition to adding Taylor and Smith to the mix, Kansas City used a third-round pick on Oklahoma product Wanya Morris in the 2023 NFL Draft. The hope is that he can slide in to right tackle with Taylor doing his thing protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside in 2024.
For now, that duty will fall on the aforementioned Donovan Smith. While he suffered through injuries last season, the Penn State product has been stellar in pass protection throughout his career. Back in 2021, Smith gave up just one sack in front of Tom Brady. Tampa Bay is hoping for similar production in 2023.
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