Pros and cons of a Sneed trade for the Chiefs
Tyler Brown
It may not have been overly splashy, but the Chiefs did a tremendous job solidifying the roster in week one of free agency. The Chiefs had a top-two defense in both points and yards allowed last season, and all they have done so far is bring back six of their defensive free agents, while only losing one so far.
The Chiefs then put their stamp on the week by bringing former first-rounder out of Oklahoma in wide receiver Hollywood Brown to sure up their weakest position. Up until that point, many viewed the Chiefs' week as quiet, but if defensive tackle Chris Jones and linebacker Drue Traquill had played in a different jersey last season, it would have been viewed as aggressive.
Bringing those two back was key to keeping their strengths a strength. Let’s not forget also that franchise cornerback L’Jarius Sneed is still technically a Chief. If Kansas City were to retain him, other than linebacker Willie Gay and possibly defensive end Mike Danna and safety Mike Edwards, the Chiefs would largely be returning their dominant defense. That is even before the draft, making other free-agent additions and possibly re-signing Danna or Edwards.
Speaking of Sneed though, that brings me to my burning question entering week two of free agency.
What is going to happen to L’Jarius Sneed?
It has been reported for weeks now that Sneed was given permission by the Chiefs to seek a trade. All rumors should be taken with a grain of salt but the latest is that Kansas City is being reasonable but Sneed is not settling for the contracts being offered by the other teams that would acquire him. Nor should he be by the way, as a 27-year-old who plays a young man's position.
While numerous teams such as the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers have been linked to the Sneed sweepstakes, the two teams that you hear about the most are the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans. Some of these teams could have moved on by now since they have allocated their resources elsewhere but the Titans and Colts are rumored daily.
If you are a Chiefs fan and you have to decide who is going to win a bidding war between the Titans and the Colts, the Colts are the most obvious answer. When a team is trading for a player on the franchise tag, you typically give up less than fair trade value because the acquiring team also has to shell out a big contract for the player.
While the Titans do have the higher second-round pick at 38, they do not have a third-round pick at all. Unless they want to give up 38, which is unlikely, the Colts already have a leg up owing pick 82 in round three. After pick 38, the Titans' next pick is not until pick 106.
The Titans could always get creative and offer a 2024 fourth-round pick and an additional third or fourth-round pick in 2025, which could force the Colts to offer up pick 46 in the second round, but who knows?
Then comes the next question, which is at what point do the Chiefs not settle for a third or fourth-round pick and decide that it is worth it to extend him or allow him to play under the franchise tag? Sneed is currently counting nearly $20 million against the cap, but he is a shutdown corner in the prime of his career.
Not only does keeping him around clearly make the defense better but the Chiefs roster is largely set heading into the NFL Draft. If the Chiefs needed to suit up tomorrow, they could and they would be the favorite.
According to Over The Cap, the Chiefs have over $15 million in cap space, although that does not account for the reported re-signing of defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. Even knowing the Chiefs would have nearly $35 million in cap space after trading Sneed, what would they do with it that would be better than having Sneed on the roster?
The Chiefs could surely use another receiver, even after signing Brown, but are they actually going to go big game hunting for a guy like former Charger Mike Williams? And would you actually rather have Williams over Sneed? I surely would not.
The Chiefs could use a left tackle, but the best available is the often-injured Mekhi Becton. They could also use an edge rusher and possibly a corner if they were to get rid of Sneed. The best edge rushers available are Chase Young, Jadeveon Clowney, Manny Ogbah and Mike Danna. The top corners are Stephon Gilmore, Xavien Howard and Tre’Davious White.
My point is none of these free agents, even if you combine a few of them are as valuable as Sneed. With the cap space available to the Chiefs, you could sign some of these players or some receivers like Tyler Boyd, Hunter Renfrow or Josh Reynolds and keep Sneed at his 20 million-dollar price tag.
Let’s not forget Sneed what Sneed accomplished largely shadowing the team's best receiver in 2023. Sure, he gets some safety help but he held D.J. Moore to 41 yards, Justin Jefferson to 28, Tyreek Hill to 62 both times, A.J. Brown to 8, Stefon Diggs to under 24 both times, Davante Adams to 4, Ja’Marr Chase to 41 and Brandon Aiyuk to 49 in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs played 11 of the top 20 receivers in 2023 and not a single one of them came close to 100 yards.
With the cap space already available, the Chiefs should think long and hard about getting too little for Sneed in a trade. At some point the juice is not worth the squeeze and there is nothing wrong, from the Chiefs' perspective in just letting him play out one more year on the franchise tag while you are trying to win three championships in a row, for the first time in NFL history.
The human side of me wants to see Sneed get extended, rather than be forced to play under the tag. Sneed is 27 and he has made just south of $6 million in his career, so it is highly unlikely he would hold out from $19.8 million, but banking on dominating as much as he did this year and then hitting the market at age 28 is not an ideal situation.
From the Chiefs' side, it does make some sense to extend Sneed as well. For one, the compensatory pick formula is no guarantee to return anything if they just let him walk next year. For two, all-pro Trent McDuffie still has three years left on his rookie deal, including the fifth-year option. If the Chiefs can structure a four-year contract that is really only guaranteed three years, they could extend McDuffie and have Sneed for his 27,28 and 29-aged seasons.
The only reason the Chiefs are tempted to trade him at all is because general manager Brett Veach has a keen eye when drafting corners. He has McDuffie and capable players in Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams waiting in the wings. Nazeeh Johnson and Ekow Boye-Doe have shown flashes in camp as well. On top of that, he has a draft next month to add a new batch of defensive backs.
With that said, a sure thing is a sure thing and the defense absolutely ran through Jones, Sneed and McDuffie last year on their way to dominance and prominence. Ultimately, it does sound like there is some real smoke around Sneed being traded. It seems somewhat inevitable at this point. Personally, I would not do it unless I was getting pick 38 or 46 in return. Sneed is well worth the franchise tag cap hit or a multi-year extension.
