Over the weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs dealt star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans for a 2025 third-round pick, while swapping 2024 seventh-round picks.
Sneed was rumored to be a trade candidate from the start of the offseason when the Chiefs placed their franchise tag on him.
After Kansas City signed Chris Jones to a massive contract extension, the Chiefs didn’t have enough salary cap room to ink Sneed to a new deal without mortgaging future financial security.
The Titans signed the star cornerback to a four-year, $76 million deal with $55 million guaranteed after acquiring him from Kansas City.
The minimal compensation that the Chiefs received for sending Sneed to Tennessee may be an indication that Kansas City wasn’t interested in signing him to an extension.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has shown a knack for identifying and drafting defensive back in the late rounds of the draft.
The rise of Trent McDuffie as lockdown corner gave Kansas City’s front office some flexibility with Sneed, and may have led Veach to believe that the team’s secondary could maintain its success without adding more burden to the Chiefs’ defensive payroll.
Veach’s decision to trade Sneed freed up almost $20 million in cap space that Kansas City can now spend on free agents who are still on the market after the initial waves of signings this month.
In the end, the Sneed trade was a win-win-win for all sides involved. The Chiefs accumulated more draft capital, Sneed got paid, and the Titans bolstered their defense with a star cornerback.
