Chiefs' 6 Biggest Priorities After 2024 Minicamp

3. Solidifying the cornerback position

There's no question that one of the things that hurt the Kansas City Chiefs the most in the 2024 offseason was having to trade away cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, a player who developed in this defensive system and became one of the best in the league at his position. That's not a small loss for a defense that ranked 2nd in the NFL in points allowed and 4th in the NFL in passing yards allowed.

Sneed's excellence out of the defensive backfield was all-encompassing. He led the team with 14 passes broken up but also had five tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions. The Chiefs traded him to the Tennessee Titans who could afford to give him the contract he wanted, and are now left trying to figure out how to put all the pieces together in the secondary.

Sneed only allowed 51 percent of throws into his coverage to be completed last year. He didn't give up a single touchdown in the regular season.

To say that's going to be difficult to replace would be an understatement. The Chiefs have a budding superstar at cornerback in Trent McDuffie, but can Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams pick up the slack? Do the Chiefs need to go out and make a move to sign someone like veteran Stephon Gilmore while they've still got the chance to do so?

Based on the way young players have progressed for this Chiefs team, it's not unreasonable to expect them to go with the next man up mentality as opposed to going the veteran free agent route, but this position group is definitely a priority area all throughout the offseason.