The Kansas City Chiefs decided to place the franchise tag on L'Jarius Sneed on Monday, but the cornerback may not play for the team next season.
Sneed has been given permission to seek a trade, and the Chiefs have reportedly heard from seven teams that are interested.
The Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars have all expressed interest in Sneed, according to USA Today.
For a deal to happen, a team would have to get Sneed to agree to a contract extension and convince the Chiefs to agree to trade him.
That seems to be a feasible possibility. With Sneed’s franchise tag now counting $19.8 million against the Chiefs’ salary cap, they’re just barely under the cap for 2024, and they’d probably rather move on from him and devote that cap space elsewhere. Sneed is a solid enough cornerback that some team will surely think he’s worth both a big contract and some draft picks to get the Chiefs to trade him.
A trade with the Arizona Cardinals might be the most realistic scenario for the Chiefs and L'Jarius Sneed, for a couple of reasons. For one, the Cardinals also really need a star cornerback. They ended the 2023 season ranking 31st in EPA allowed per drop back. Only the Washington Commanders were worse in that metric. Remember how Sneed shut down Ja'Marr Chase in their 2023 matchup? Well, the Cardinals also played Chase in 2023; he 192 yards and three touchdowns after hauling in 15 of 19 targets thrown his direction.
L'Jarius Sneed had a monster season for the Chiefs. He routinely bottled up top wide receivers every week. Additionally, he finished with 78 total tackles, 14 pass deflections, two interceptions, and one fumble recovery. Opponents had a hard time throwing his direction as he blanketed receivers all season.
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