A welcome-home signing for L'Jarius Sneed and the Kansas City Chiefs is one of the better storylines as the offseason continues. It was announced a couple of days ago that the two-time Super Bowl champion will return to play in red and gold after two years of playing in Tennessee, following the trade from KC.
After back-to-back exquisite seasons in 2022 and '23, Sneed rightfully was looking for a payday that the Chiefs simply weren't willing to give. Not because they thought badly of him as a player, but because his knees were medically hanging on by a thread. He was traded to the Titans for a third-round pick in return and signed a four-year, $76 million contract with over $50 million guaranteed.
After two years and just 12 games played, the Titans bit the bullet and released Sneed, making way for general manager Brett Veach and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to reunite with one of the most impactful defensive players of football's most recent dynasty. While the cheap one-year, incentive-laden deal Sneed received by no means puts his name in pen on this roster, no less a starting spot, he adds another body in a now crowded cornerback room where his coming back could end up being one of the more contentious additions as the Chiefs head into training camp.
L'Jarius Sneed's Chiefs return muddies the water on an already cramped CB room
I don't believe the Chiefs would have signed Sneed if they didn't at least know for certain that he was medically cleared and they had the belief he could get through an entire 18-plus-week season without his knees deteriorating. As of now, Sneed seems healthier than his entire Titans tenure and comes into a complicated Spags defensive system that he knows backwards and forwards.
Even if Sneed is not the same player he once was, which at his peak in 2023 was All-Pro level good, he is still a good athlete with better ball skills than almost everybody in that room, save for perhaps sixth-overall pick Mansoor Delane, and has the knowledge to teach a young CB room.
Who this spells trouble for most is two outside corners who Sneed will be directly competing against for maybe not a starting spot, but certainly a backup role, in veterans Kristian Fulton and Kaiir Elam. Chiefs fans should be familiar with both those names by now, as Fulton enters the final year of a two-year, $20 million deal given by the Chiefs last offseason. He saw very limited snaps last year, both due to nagging injuries and the coach's decision.
Kaiir Elam was drafted two spots behind Trent McDuffie in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. In a word, he was terrible and was released by Buffalo after three seasons and spent last year on the Titans with Sneed, where he played in 14 games on over 50% of the snaps.
Elam is on a vet minimum deal and would be an easy cut candidate for the Chiefs if he doesn't show enough flashes heading toward roster cutdown day. While Fulton carries a $13 million cap hit as of now, his release would free up another $5 million and leave $8 million in dead cap if Veach decides he's not done bringing in talent.
It's yet to be seen how much cap space the Mahomes contract revision freed up, which will be another factor in whether or not Fulton stays. But it's safe to say Sneed's homecoming to the Chiefs may turn out to have a domino effect on future Chiefs decisions.
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