The Kansas City Chiefs may end up trading cornerback L’Jarius Sneed this offseason, and the Atlanta Falcons may be the early favorites to land him.
Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda says that the Falcons could very well swing a deal with the Chiefs to acquire Sneed, as they planned on making a serious play for him in free agency.
On Wednesday, news surfaced that Kansas City was planning on slapping a franchise tag on Sneed and then trading him.
Of course, the Chiefs would also have until mid-July to sign Sneed to a long-term contract under a tag, but given their financial constraints, it seems fairly unlikely that they would retain him.
Kansas City seems to be prioritizing defensive lineman Chris Jones, which would be costly enough as it is. The Chiefs don’t have a ton of cap space and also have other roster needs to fill, so it makes sense that they would want to move Sneed rather than sacrificing their financial flexibility both now and in the future.
Sneed is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he played 16 games and registered 78 tackles, a couple of interceptions, a fumble recovery and 14 passes defended.
The 27-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Louisiana Tech, was selected by Kansas City in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
After a couple of solid seasons to begin his career, Sneed broke out in 2022, racking up 108 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three picks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 11 passes defended.
Sneed has helped the Chiefs win back-to-back Super Bowl championships, and while he has yet to make a Pro Bowl, he has developed into one of the better cornerbacks in football.
Atlanta was actually decent defensively this past year, finishing 11th in yards allowed. It also finished an impressive eighth in passing defense. But, a team can always afford to add an elite defensive back like L’Jarius Sneed.
The Falcons went 7-10 in 2023.
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