Veteran cornerback L’Jarius Sneed will return to Kansas City for a second stint. The Chiefs plan to sign the two-time Super Bowl champion, Jordan Schultz reports. It will be a one-year deal worth up to $5MM, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
The Sneed reunion comes just a few days after the Chiefs brought him in for a visit last week. The 29-year-old had been on the market since his disappointing Titans tenure ended with a mid-March release.
The Chiefs spent a 2020 fourth-round pick on Sneed, a Louisiana Tech product who quickly emerged as a steal. During his first run in Kansas City, Sneed started in 54 of 57 games, deflected 40 passes and hauled in 10 interceptions over four years. However, just over a month after the Chiefs knocked off the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, they dealt Sneed to the Titans in March 2024. Before working out a trade, the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Sneed to prevent him from hitting free agency. They ended up getting a 2025 third-round selection back in the deal, which also included a swap of 2024 seventh-rounders.
While Kansas City was not interested in making a long-term commitment to Sneed, Tennessee handed the 6-foot-1, 192-pounder a four-year, $76.4MM pact with $51.5MM in guarantees. The trade and the extension went down as regrettable moves for the Titans, who got just 12 appearances and zero picks from Sneed across two seasons. He dealt with quad and knee issues in both seasons, including during a seven-game showing in 2025.
Off the field, a grand jury indicted Sneed last November for failure to report a felony stemming from an alleged incident in December 2024. Those charges were dropped in early May, though, and Sneed is now heading back to Kansas City a month later.
Despite Sneed’s importance to their defense during his first four seasons, the Chiefs moved on fine at cornerback with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson taking over as starters from 2024-25. However, the Chiefs traded McDuffie to the Rams in a March blockbuster and then saw Watson follow him to Los Angeles in free agency. The Chiefs then made a major move to replace those two when they drafted top-rated corner Mansoor Delane sixth overall. If Delane starts as a rookie, Sneed, Nohl Williams and free agent pickup Kaiir Elam could be among the names competing for the job opposite him.
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Chiefs have a Need. A Need for Sneed