The Chiefs have agreed to a contract with L’Jarius Sneed, according to multiple reports, reuniting the franchise with the cornerback who played his first four seasons with Kansas City.
The Chiefs make the move during an offseason in which they traded All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams.
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Kansas City selected Sneed in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He earned starting time as a rookie and was a full-time starter for the Chiefs from 2021-23. He was a key defender on Kansas City’s teams that beat the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowls after the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
L’Jarius Sneed was a key defender on two of Kansas City’s Super Bowl winning teams. Now he’s back after two injury-hampered seasons with the Titans.
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Sneed commanded a lucrative contract after breaking out in Kansas City, and the Chiefs traded him to the Tennessee Titans prior to the 2024 season in exchange for a third-round draft pick and a seventh-round pick swap. Sneed signed a four-year, $76 million deal with the Titans with $51.5 million guaranteed.
Knee and quad injuries limited Sneed to 12 games in two seasons in Tennessee. After securing 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended in four seasons with the Chiefs, he failed to secure an interception and recorded just three passes defended in his two seasons with the Titans.
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The Titans released Sneed in March in a move that cleared $11.4 million in salary cap space. Now he’s returning to Kansas City on what ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports is a one-year deal, worth up to $5 million.
The Chiefs are in need of secondary help after trading McDuffie, who was named All-Pro after the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In exchange for McDuffie, the Chiefs received four draft picks, including a 2026 selection that they used to pick defensive tackle Peter Woods at No. 29.
The Chiefs traded up from their own draft slot in April to select cornerback Mansoor Delane out of LSU at No. 6. The Chiefs are hoping that Delane can be a Day 1 starter as a rookie and now have acquired another potential starting cornerback in Sneed, who’s 29 years old and has had success on two Super Bowl-winning teams in Kansas City.