Kansas City Chiefs have two potential contract standoffs that could steal the spotlight during upcoming mandatory minicamp.

Kansas City Chiefs News

The Kansas City Chiefs officially kick off their three-day mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, June 17.

Due to contract-related standoffs, two players could be front and center in the conversation at mandatory minicamp. One is a fifth-year NFL veteran seeking a long-term contract extension, while the other is a rookie who has yet to sign his contract with the team.

The clock is ticking to sign franchise-tagged RG Trey Smith to an extension, and Kansas City still has an unsigned 2025 NFL draft pick in DT Omarr Norman-Lott.

While neither situation is poised to be a “distraction,” so to speak, they could certainly steal some of the spotlight during mandatory minicamp practices. Here’s the latest on both players and why their contract situations could be part of the conversation over the next three days.

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Chiefs don’t know if Trey Smith will attend mandatory minicamp

Trey Smith hasn’t participated in the Chiefs’ voluntary Organized Team Activity (OTAs) practices as the 26-year-old former sixth-round draft pick seeks a long-term contract extension. Will he show up to attend the team’s first mandatory minicamp practice on Tuesday? That all remains to be seen.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Reid said of Smith’s potential attendance at mandatory minicamp. “I don’t know that, to be honest. I mean, these things are — we’ll see where he goes, where it goes.”

I’m told that the Chiefs won’t be too broken up if Smith doesn’t attend mandatory minicamp practices, either in a hold-in or holdout capacity. Should he miss the three mandatory practice sessions, he’ll be subject to over $100K in fines that cannot be waived.

They’ll, of course, welcome him with open arms should he decide to show up. At the same time, they are looking to get more repetitions for their young interior offensive line depth. They also don’t want Smith risking injury while on the fully guaranteed $23.4M franchise tag price.

Why Chiefs DT Omarr Norman-Lott remains unsigned heading into mandatory minicamp

Just two of the 32 players drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft have reached agreements and signed their rookie contracts. That’s because second-round draft picks are lobbying for a new precedent after Houston Texans WR Jayden Higgins and Cleveland Browns LB Carson Schwesinger received fully guaranteed contracts. That’s typically something reserved for first-round draft picks.

Chiefs second-round DT Omarr Norman-Lott has been a full participant during the OTAs despite not signing his rookie contract yet. Certain agreements protect him in case of injury, like a rookie participation agreement, which states he’d get paid at standard rates should he participate in practices and be injured before signing a contract. It’s unclear if he’s signed such an agreement, but his participation in OTAs suggests some protections are in place.

While a contract-related rookie holdout from mandatory minicamp is highly unlikely (unless you’re the Cincinnati Bengals), the real situation to consider here is the game of chicken between NFL agents and clubs regarding second-round draft picks. As a late second-round draft pick at pick No. 63, Norman-Lott is less likely to receive a fully guaranteed contract than other second-round picks. That said, it’s the responsibility of his agent to get him the best contract possible, and waiting for the 29 other remaining second-round picks to sign deals will be in Norman-Lott’s best interest. It also might be in the Chiefs’ best interest as other agreements come together across the league.

What happens if Norman-Lott is not contracted by July when training camp begins? The alarm bells will certainly intensify the longer he remains unsigned. Still, even if he’s not signed by the rookie report date for training camp, he should be able to participate in practices and further gel with his new teammates via the aforementioned rookie participation agreement.