The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs valued cornerback L’Jarius Sneed as a “franchise participant” with a totally assured $19.8 million to begin the 2024 NFL offseason. This week, they agreed to half with him for primarily a single 2025 third-round draft choose, additionally swapping seventh-rounders to ship the star cowl man to the Tennessee Titans. So what modified? Or did the Chiefs by no means consider Sneed warranted a profitable funding? Right here, we’re exploring three causes the reigning champions acquired so little in return.
1. The Chiefs weren’t set to pay Sneed long-term
Chiefs security Justin Reid stated forward of Tremendous Bowl LVIII that Sneed was “simply” his most underrated teammate and deserved profitable recognition this offseason. However one of many causes the Chiefs have repeatedly returned to the title sport is their willingness to make powerful choices and reset costly positions round core items like Patrick Mahomes. They did it with Tyreek Hill in 2022, sacrificing a star playmaker for an avoidance of stated participant’s market-pacing contract calls for. They’re doing it once more right here; it is not a coincidence studies of Sneed’s exit included overt point out that the Titans can be giving their new nook a brand new deal.
2. Sneed is older, and his star substitute is already in place
Age is not every part; the Chiefs, in any case, simply paid massive bucks to Chris Jones, who can be 30 this summer season. However Sneed is a bit older for a participant seemingly simply hitting his prime; he was 23 as a rookie, and he would’ve been 28 coming off the 2024 tag. And in contrast to up entrance, the place the Chiefs do not have a readymade successor for Jones alongside the inside, the Ok.C. secondary already contains 23-year-old Trent McDuffie, who’s arguably the membership’s prime cowl man after a second-year breakout in 2023. The staff additionally has a latest historical past of profitable cornerback turnover, creating Sneed to justify letting former starter Charvarius Ward stroll in free company.
3. CB is a unstable place, and it might be dropping some worth
Greater than maybe another spot, cornerback tends to be residence to critical year-to-year variability, with even esteemed cowl males like Jalen Ramsey and Stephon Gilmore and Darius Slay enduring big-play slumps. And whereas an elite nook remains to be a premium asset in right this moment’s NFL — see: Sauce Gardner, Patrick Surtain II, and so forth. — this 12 months’s free agent market was additionally significantly dim, with solely two veterans securing offers averaging not less than $10 million per 12 months. Not a single free agent nook additionally secured a deal longer than three years, reiterating the long-term unpredictability of the job.