MARCH 10: Add the Dolphins to the list of Sneed interested parties. Miami is not in good cap shape and may well lose both Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt in free agency. But with the team cutting Xavien Howard, cornerback help will be sought. The Dolphins are believed to have looked into the prospect of acquiring Sneed, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes.
MARCH 6: 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 $19.8MM 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 $20MM-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 will use up much of their cap space. The Colts and Jags, meanwhile, used the franchise tag on wideout Michael Pittman Jr. and edge rusher Josh Allen yesterday; 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.
Come to Atlanta. Let’s go man!
Detroit needs to jump on this asap.
Hopefully the Lions can find a way to get him
I wish Detroit would go get him but Holmes would never give up any of draft picks in a trade for a game changer like Sneed. They will do the usual and go get a bottom of the barrel free agent CB coming off an injury again on a 1 yr deal.
It makes no sense to give up both a second round pick and to pay $20 million/year for a cornerback. The team making the trade cannot win in this situation.
The best example is what the Bills gave up for Stefon Diggs and what it did for their cap situation. In exchange the Viking received Justin Jefferson, lowered cap and lots more picks (4th, 5th, 6th).
I don’t totally disagree with your logic about spending a high draft pick on a guy you need to pay top of the market money, but I don’t think your example is entirely fair. Diggs’ arrival helped Josh Allen break out and the Bills level up. And he isn’t the problem with their cap situation nearly as much as Von Miller is. It’s easy to cite the Diggs trade as an example of why you should trade the guy, but you’re more likely to have a situation where you trade AJ Brown and draft Treylon Burks than you are to trade a young Pro Bowl player and immediately draft an even better receiver.
So, the two first round picks required to pry away a player on a franchise tag are just guidance?
That’s if a player signs a tender with a different team and KC declines to match.
If Sneed signs the Tag and then KC trades him it can be for whatever.
IE…no team is gonna relinquish 2 1sts AND create an offer so insane that KC has to decline it. However, if KC didn’t Tag him they would have probably lost him for nothing at all.
So in this scenario all win…KC gets “something” for the player, Player gets a new team and new team doesn’t have to break the market for said player. The downside is the player has to sign the Tag Offer for a trade to happen, which means he is on a 1 yr deal, so any team acquiring him would have to negotiate an extension before even making the deal.
If I was Brad Holmes, I’m making the call and trying to get him. A consequence of actually being good though is that the Lions 2024 2nd round pick is #61. Pats 2nd is #34, MIN #42, ATL #43…ETC. There may not be a huge disparity I talent btw early and late 5th rounders, but one only needs to look at Branch last year to see how valuable a higher 2nd rd pick is
(consequently, for all the “why didn’t Brad Holmes get Montez Sweat?!” screamers back on deadline day, this is example 1a of why the Lions were never going to beat the Bears offer to Washington. They would have had to send their 1st round pick AND sign him to that inflated contract).
All that said…Sneed has maybe a little more say in a destination than “signed” player, so maybe the new found “respect” league wide will work in Detroit’s favor. But pick 61 isn’t gonna get it done, and I’d rather Holmes have more ammo on Days 2 and 3 than attach more picks to an offer. If KC was willing to take #61 and a player, maybe it happens.
Personally I’d love to see if KC would bite on #61 and S Kerry Joseph. I am in a minority, but I don’t think Joseph’s “Boom or Bust” mentality in deep coverage does this team any favors. I’d rather run out with Iffy and re-up with CJGJ, with Branch at Nickel.
Hopes and Dreams….that’s all NFL offseason AND NHL Trade Deadline Day are anyway
It just makes too much sense for Detroit to trade for Sneed. They are literally a CB1 and a DE opposite Hutch away from being a legit dominant SB team. I trust Brad Holmes no matter what, and all of his draft picks are like gold the way he chooses college talent. But it’s worth a 2nd rounder to get a corner with this kind of talent. Make it happen BH!
Keep the pick, keep the cap and draft well. If you want to spend money, spend it on true free agents.
Otherwise you are mortgaging the future. You don’t want to have one year of plenty and seven of drought, do you?
Future Jaguar
My guess is he’ll either sign a deal with KC with a minimal salary this year and up next year or go to Detroit. He prefers to stay in KC though so we’ll see.