After reportedly shopping cornerback L’Jarius Sneed for several weeks, the Kansas City Chiefs finally found a deal. The Tennessee Titans swooped in to land Sneed as they attempt to keep up with all of the offensive firepower in the AFC South. But will it be enough to contend for a division title?
Breaking Down the L’Jarius Sneed Trade
Prior to determining which team won the trade involving Sneed, we should take a closer look at the compensation involved in the deal.
- Titans Receive: L’Jarius Sneed, 2024 seventh-round pick (252nd overall)
- Chiefs Receive: 2024 seventh-round pick (227th overall), 2025 third-round pick
It’s intriguing that the third-round pick that the Chiefs are receiving is in the 2025 NFL Draft. That likely means Kansas City wasn’t able to find a deal involving a significant draft pick in 2024.
Draft picks in future years hold less point value among NFL teams, especially given the depth and talent in this year’s draft class. Clearly, the Titans aren’t willing to wait for help at cornerback and felt it was necessary to make a huge deal to land Sneed this offseason.
Tennessee Titans Grade
Following the 2023 NFL Draft, the AFC South took a drastic leap forward as each franchise secured its starting quarterback. Tennessee is now tasked with trying to stop C.J. Stroud, Trevor Lawrence, and Anthony Richardson in six games per season.
While Tennessee hopes that Will Levis is their answer at QB, its secondary was a huge question mark heading into this offseason. The Titans quickly signed cornerback Chidobe Awuzie at the start of free agency, but they were still lacking that alpha dog in their secondary.
Considering the price of essentially just a 2025 third-round pick, this was an easy decision for the Titans to make. At 27 years old, Sneed is likely approaching his prime, and Tennessee is betting on him continuing to ascend in 2024 and beyond.
The only concern with this deal for the Titans is the massive extension that they handed to him. At $19 million per year, Sneed is now paid like a top-three cornerback in the NFL. If Sneed reverts to his form prior to last season, Tennessee will likely regret this deal.
Grade: B
Kansas City Chiefs Grade
After winning their second consecutive Super Bowl, the Chiefs clearly put an emphasis on re-signing their own talent this offseason. But while star defensive tackle Chris Jones was rewarded with a massive deal, Kansas City placed the franchise tag on Sneed.
It’s fair to wonder if the Chiefs are concerned that Sneed’s performance in 2023 was more of an anomaly. There’s a chance that Kansas City wasn’t ready to commit to Sneed on a long-term deal given his struggles during his first three seasons.
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Considering the compensation that Kansas City received, the rest of the league might be asking themselves the same question. Nearly three years ago to the day, the Detroit Lions were able to trade 29-year-old Darius Slay to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round pick and a fifth-rounder in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Yet, now the Chiefs were only able to land a third-round pick in 2025 and a slight jump up in Round 7 of the 2024 NFL Draft. Kansas City will now be forced to add another cornerback this offseason unless they’re comfortable shifting Trent McDuffie to the outside next season.
Grade: C
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What risk exactluy. Gave up a 3rd and paying 19 mil per. It’s a win/win for the Titans.
What struggles are you talking about? He’s been, at worst, a solid player in the secondary since joining the Chiefs as a fourth round pick.
Talk about his salary demands, his franchise tag status, the decreased market for corners on the back half of free agency, or teams’ hesitance to offer high compensation to the best team in the league over the last five years.
But to malign Sneed’s play when he has delivered above and beyond his entire career is negligent at best and malicious at worst.
Sneed played at a drastically higher level in 2023 than he did in the previous three seasons. All of the numbers support that thought.
In 2023, Sneed allowed just 545 receiving yards and a completion percentage of 52.0%.
But in 2022, Sneed allowed 801 receiving yards and a completion percentage of 70.5%.
In 2021, Sneed was even worse. Allowing 935 receiving yards and a completion percentage of 75.0%.
It’s completely fair to question if last season was an anomaly or if Sneed will continue to play as well as he did in 2023.