Well, it's official! The Kansas City Chiefs have slapped the franchise tag on cornerback La'jarius Sneed, and have given the star DB permission to seek a trade. This analyst thought the Chiefs would tag Chris Jones and eventually trade him for various factors that I highlighted in my previous article. EGG ON MY FACE! Sneed's cap hit is right around 19 million for one year. The Chiefs won't pay that for sure because right now they would only have about 10 million in cap space if they kept Sneed on that rate.
This could be just a placeholder to give the Chiefs more time to iron out a long-term deal. Maybe they let Chris Jones test the market and have Sneed as a backup in case Chris Jones gets that 30 million for a year for 4 seasons. I've never thought that both players would be Chiefs in week one of 2024. The noise around the campfire seems to favor Jones on the Chiefs more than Sneed, though.
Sure teams like the Bengals need a CB, but unless they give a King's ransom for Sneed like 2 first rounds and Tee Higgins, I doubt that trade gets done.
So...here are 3 teams that could trade for the star cornerback. These teams have been in the "rumor mill."
Atlanta Falcons
This is getting a significant amount of traction that it will happen.
WHY THIS WOULD HAPPEN
The Falcons have a bunch of salary cap space at around 40 million dollars. They have some premiere draft capital to make a trade happen. the 43rd overall and 1-2 later-round picks could get it done. Not out of the realm of possibility. This trade would give the Falcons one of the best secondaries in the league with Jessie Bates and Sneed.
WHY THIS WON'T HAPPEN
A big reason is that the Atlanta Falcons need a quarterback more than anything. Their quarterback play kept them from the playoffs in 2023. Even their new head coach said, "If the quarterback play was better, he probably wouldn't be here." That's priority number one, so if they trade for Justin Fields or take a QB in the draft, their pick(s) to trade for will be depleted. That and the Falcons will not give up the 8th overall pick for Sneed. That means a 2nd rounder this year at most for the Chiefs.
I think the other two teams on this post will have better offers for the Chiefs.
Detroit Lions
WHY THIS WOULD HAPPEN
The Detroit Lions are the most desperate for secondary help. The Lions have the quarterback for the foreseeable future. The secondary was a weak spot on an otherwise solid defense. Sneed could've easily been the missing piece for the Lions making the Super Bowl. Sneed's fumble on Zay Flowers was essential to the Chiefs making and winning the Super Bowl this year. Especially with the Lions running game. A star cornerback could help protect those leads and get them over the hump to the Super Bowl.
The Detroit Lions will have a lot of cap room to make this happen. They also have the 29th overall pick and a win-now mentality. L'Jarius Sneed and Detroit Lions would be a solid collaboration. The Detroit Lions would be smart to make a deal like this happen.
WHY THIS WON'T HAPPEN
Is this a new Lions team or is it the same old Lions? Their trading for Sneed is a no-brainer for them. This team needs a CB or something in the secondary(Maybe Geno Stone will be available). If the Lions don't make some obvious upgrades this will be the same old Lions. Other than that I can't see any reason for this not to happen. Was 2023 a fluke or are the Lions legit contenders?
We're about to see it in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, for the Detroit fans, this is a new day. If Sneed does get traded, MAKE IT HAPPEN DETROIT.
Philadelphia Eagles
This one is almost pure speculation. I think the amount of coverage it's getting is worthy of analysis.
WHY THIS WILL HAPPEN
The Players are recruiting Sneed with a hard pitch. Sneed has posted some cryptic "Eagle" posts on Instagram. That doesn't mean a thing other than the interest is there on both sides. The secondary struggled down the stretch for the Eagles in 2023. Darius Slay's and James Bradberry's play went down just a year after their play led them to the Super Bowl 57. The Eagles have the salary cap and the draft capital to make this happen.
WHY THIS WON'T HAPPEN
The big problem with the significant drop-off of play of Slay and Bradberry is both of them have significant cap hits and have big "dead money" implications if either one is cut. The play took a dip but not as much to justify cutting either one of them. Massive cap hits for Sneed, Bradberry, and Slay would not be the best business deal. Unless Sirianni is crazy, I doubt this will happen.