At first glance, the Kansas City Chiefs’ choice to trade for great cornerback L’Jarius Sneed appeared to have put the two-time defending Super Bowl winners in a difficult situation.
In March, Sneed was supposed to hit the NFL free agent market with All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones. Kansas City may have considered one of two options when it decided to tag Sneed.
Sneed has a franchise tag worth of $19.8 million. For Jones, the Chiefs would have had to pay almost $32 million for the tag. After Jones persevered into the 2023 season, general manager Brett Veach and associates could have concluded that Jones had just priced himself out of their market.
Another reason going on in Kansas City behind closed doors is that the organization thinks it has a greater chance than Sneed of keeping Jones around for the long run ahead of NFL free agency.
said on Wednesday that Kansas City’s internal thinking is that it can lock up Jones before he can begin negotiations with other clubs on March 11.
The Chiefs have made Jones their top goal this summer. Even though Sneed was essential to their team’s second straight Super Bowl victory, from an inside perspective, he could be viewed as more disposable.
It should be mentioned that in the event that a long-term contract extension cannot be reached between the two parties in the next two weeks, Sneed has been granted permission by the Chiefs to look for trade partners. Undoubtedly, this is something to observe.
Ever since Kansas City selected the 29-year-old Jones in the second round out of Mississippi State in 2016, he has been nothing short of extraordinary. He has amassed an incredible 152 QB hits, 68 tackles for loss, and 67 sacks over the last six seasons.
Before Jones enters free agency, any new contract would probably cost the Chiefs over $30 million a year for at least four seasons.
