The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Jerrel Powe from Ole Miss with their 6th round pick in 2011. It was widely believed that Powe couldplay a role on the team during his rookie season as a potential rotational player as he gets used to the NFL game. Every hour that passes by during free agency that the nose tackle position isn't addressed, it's more likely that Powe will see a larger role as a rookie that many originally believed.
It still seems as if the best situation for Powe would be to learn from a veteran for a year or two before he becomes 'the guy' and has to man the most important position on the Chiefs defense. That veteran player was thought to possibly be Ron Edwards. But since Edwards just recently agreed to a contract with the Carolina Panthers that is not the case anymore.
According to Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs had been in negotiations with Smith on a contract for the 2011 season and possibly beyond. Smith has the ability to play nose tackle and when he came to Kansas City last year it was as a nose tackle that many believed the majority of his snaps would come from. But with Tyson Jackson's injury early in the 2010 season, Smith had to fill in at defensive end, and did so very well.
The free agent market has been very quiet for nose tackles and besides the Washington Redskins picking up Barry Cofield from the Giants, who has played DT in a 4/3 in New York, there haven't been any free agent signings on nose tackles. Brandon Mebane, Pat Williams, Kelly Gregg and Aubrayo Franklin are the players on the market who are looking for their new homes.
Jason La Canfora of the NFL network said earlier on his blog that "Franklin is expected by many to land in Kansas City". This had Chiefs fans excited as Franklin is by far the 'prize' of the free agent nose tackle market and is widely viewed as a last-piece-of-the-puzzle for an up-and-coming Chiefs defense.