As expected, the Chiefs were among the teams which applied the franchise tag before Tuesday’s deadline, keeping L’Jarius Sneed off the free-agent market in the process. The standout corner is far from certain to remain in Kansas City, though, as a tag-and-trade maneuver is on the table.
Sneed has served as a full-time starter for nearly his entire Chiefs tenure (70 regular and postseason games), developing into a key member of the team’s vaunted secondary. The tag will cost $19.8M in 2024, though, using up significant cap space on a team already needing a new deal for Chris Jones. The latter is the defending champions’ priority, and a re-up will not come cheaply. A long-term Sneed pact could also approach or reach the $20M-per-year-mark his one-year tender is valued at.
Knowing Sneed could very well be on the trade block, Tyler Dragon of USA Today Sports reports seven teams have emerged as interested suitors. That list consists of the Vikings, Colts, Titans, Patriots, Lions, Falcons and Jaguars. Many of those teams are among those set to have the most spending power ahead of free agency and therefore the ones most capable of absorbing Sneed’s cap hit as it stands while working out a lucrative long-term deal.
Of course, teams like Minnesota, Indianapolis and Jacksonville could see sizable changes to their cap situations in the near future. The Vikings have two of the top pending free agents in Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter and meeting the stated objective of retaining both would use up much of their cap space. The Colts and Jags, meanwhile, used their respective franchise tags on wideout Michael Pittman Jr. and edge-rusher Josh Allen Tuesday; long-term deals with either could lower their 2024 cap figures and free up room for an aggressive Sneed pursuit.
The Falcons – presumed to be a strong Cousins suitor – will likely wait until their quarterback addition has been made before authorizing a costly move (in terms of draft capital and finances) like a Sneed acquisition. New England and Tennessee rank second and third in respective cap space as things stand, meaning those teams could outbid other suitors and immediately make a deal for the 27-year-old a priority. Detroit reportedly has cornerback at or near the top of the organization’s offseason to-do list, so a Sneed trade would come as little surprise.
With respect to compensation, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer predicts a second-round pick could be required to convince the Chiefs to green-light a trade. Losing an effective contributor will no doubt induce Kansas City to generate as many bidders as possible and land better draft capital than what a 2025 free-agent departure would yield (a third-round compensatory pick the following year). With free agency one week away, it will be interesting to see how much of a market develops for Sneed if the Chiefs move forward with exploring a trade.
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