The Kansas City Chiefs continued their streak of signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers players, adding Donovan Smith to their offseason haul.
It’s been an offseason of change for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, one that the Kansas City Chiefs have seemingly taken full advantage of.
Since meeting in the Super Bowl three years ago the Chiefs and Buccaneers have gone in different directions. Both have remained largely competitive, but last season was a sharp divergence that seems to indicate what the future will hold.
Tampa Bay limped through the season, barely winning the NFC South with a losing record before getting fired out of the playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys on Wild Card Weekend. Meanwhile the Chiefs marched all the way to another Super Bowl victory, this time over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The connection between the two teams has continued all offseason long, with Brett Veach poaching a handful of former Buccaneers players away from Tampa Bay in free agency. First the Chiefs signed safety Mike Edwards, then added Blaine Gabbert to back up Patrick Mahomes.
Now Kansas City has made perhaps its most brilliant steal from the Bucs free agent pool.
Buccaneers News: Kansas City Chiefs sign Donovan Smith
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Chiefs agreed to a deal with free agent left tackle Donovan Smith on Wednesday.
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
After releasing Smith as part of an offseason purge to untangle a $55 million salary cap knot, there were rumors that he could return to the Bucs on a cheaper deal. That clearly isn’t happening, and Smith is landing in an absolutely perfect spot to revive his career.
To say last year was a brutal one for Smith is a tremendous understatement. He committed a career-high in penalties, often at the most inopportune times — not that there is an opportune time to commit them.
His holds killed drives that contributed to stunting the Bucs offense last year, a unit that despite being led by Brady was among the league’s worst. Now that he’s landing with the Chiefs, he has a chance to atone and remind everyone of the player he was when he was helping the Bucs win a Super Bowl over his new team.
With Smith officially somewhere else, the Bucs have a bit of a clearer picture on how to move forward in reshaping the offensive line. Tristan Wirfs is likely moving to left tackle to replace Smith with an open competition in camp likely to decide who fills in at right tackle.