While it may not be easy, Kansas City Chiefs Brett Veach is well aware of the massive value Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed have to his team and he seems ready to do whatever it takes to make sure they are both back in red-and-yellow next season.
The Chiefs are just days away from winning a second straight Super Bowl and their third in five seasons. However, when the dust settles after Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, the organization will have some big decisions to make and bridges to gap.
- Chris Jones stats (2023-24): 10.5 sacks, 30 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 29 QB hits
Unlike previous years, this Kansas City team has been pushed to the league championship due to outstanding play from their defense. A defense led by franchise great Chris Jones and rising star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Unfortunately for KC, both are set to be free agents this spring and will be looking to land career-defining paydays.
But fortunately for Chiefs fans, it seems like the team’s general manager is fully aware of their importance to the roster and they can’t lose them in the offseason.
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Kansas City Chiefs prioritizing Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed this offseason
In a Thursday conversation with ESPN, Veach admitted it won’t be easy to re-sign Jones and Sneed but it is an absolute must in March.
“Sometimes I look at our situation and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to do this,’ but we usually work through things systematically and have a list of the priorities,” Veach said. “Certainly, Chris and LJ are at the top of the list. It’s extremely hard because you have two keystone players there.”
“… Going from where we were in ’17 and ’18 to having one of the best defenses, knowing the constraints we had of just paying [Patrick Mahomes] and probably drafting later [in rounds], I don’t think I ever envisioned having a top one or two defense.,” he added.
Before this season, after failed negotiations on a long-term deal, the Chiefs and Jones agreed to a revised one-year pact that paid him $19.5 million. The organization could franchise him again in 2024, but that could cost them as much as $32 million next season. Jones is reportedly looking to be paid like an elite pass rusher, and after earning All-Pro honors again in 2023, he has a serious case to get that.
Sneed has grown into one of the better young corners in the game and will surely have many interested suitors in NFL free agency. The franchise tag value for defensive ends was just over $19 million this past season. It was $18.1 million for corners. The Chiefs could try to agree to a long-term deal with Jones that benefits them in future years and tag Sneed in 2024.
- L’Jarius Sneed stats (2023-24): 78 tackles, 2 INTs, 14 passes defended
The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to be $23 million under the cap heading into the offseason and may need to make some more adjustments to re-sign both, but it isn’t at all impossible.
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