The Kansas City Chiefs became repeat Super Bowl winners in large part thanks to an outstanding defense led by Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed. Unfortunately for the reigning champions, they appear to be in danger of losing one of their best players to NFL free agency.
While Kansas City can create significant cap room this offseason through a Patrick Mahomes contract restructure, it still may not be enough to retain all of their defensive starters poised to hit the open market. Even with the franchise tag at the club’s disposal, it seems defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is in jeopardy of seeing one of his core contributors bolt for another club.
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While the Chiefs fully intend to make every effort possible to retain both Sneed and Jones, they can only use the franchise tag once and that means one of their defensive stars will be allowed to negotiate with other teams. Even before that happens, NFL teams are already being linked as serious competition to challenge Kansas City in a bidding war.
According to Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda, the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders are three teams to keep a close eye on with interest in Sneed if he hits the market this offseason.
Sneed, age 27, would be an outstanding fit with any of the three mentioned teams. While Dallas will get Trevon Diggs back in 2024 and DaRon Bland broke out this season, Sneed has experience playing both in the slot and lining up outside against No. 1 receivers. With Jerry Jones vowing to go all-in this year, signing Sneed could give the Cowboys the best cornerback trio in the NFL.
As for the Falcons, Sneed would likely line up opposite of A.J. Terrell. It would provide Atlanta with one of the best cornerback tandems it’s ever had in franchise history, allowing head coach Raheem Morris to have two defensive backs he can trust in man coverage thus allowing him to blitz more frequently.
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The worst-case scenario for Kansas City would be losing Sneed to the Raiders. Las Vegas is in desperate need of a No. 1 cornerback and its pass defense would greatly benefit by plugging a void that has plagued this team for several years.
Jones’ willingness to sign a long-term deal could theoretically allow Kansas City to place the franchise tag on Sneed, but the All-Pro defensive tackle also wants to become one of the highest-paid NFL players. If the choice comes down to Sneed or Jones, the Chiefs will ultimately choose Jones.
