Two years ago, the Kansas City Chiefs felt the sting of letting go of L'Jarius Sneed after watching him ascend the team's depth chart to become the secondary's lockdown pass defender. Now, they're hoping a reunion can spark a return to form for a veteran corner hoping to rebound from a disastrous stint away from K.C.
The Chiefs held a visit with Sneed earlier this month. Apparently, that closer look was enough to convince general manager Brett Veach to offer Sneed a homecoming in Kansas City.
Per NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs are planning on signing Sneed to the offseason roster, giving them another experienced competitor in a completely remade cornerback room. Per Adam Schefter, it's a one-year deal with a max value of $5 million.
It's a worthy flyer for the team and a serendipitous lifeline for a player at his lowest.
The opportunity for Sneed
Everything was looking up for Sneed after being traded away to the Tennessee Titans in 2024. A lucrative four-year deal could have put as much as $76.4 million in his pocket, and he was squarely in the crosshairs of potential NFL stardom if he'd been able to help bolster the Titans secondary. Unfortunately, everything fell apart in basically every way from the moment he arrived.
Quad and knee injuries have kept Sneed from being available for most of his tenure in Nashville. Even when he was on the field, Sneed never looked remotely the same as he did when playing for Steve Spagnuolo, but the sample size was so small for a guy with only 12 total appearances that were often marred by health concerns.
Sneed also faced legal charges for much of his time on the Titans' roster after failing to report a shooting that involved a longtime friend. Sneed was reportedly in the car involved in the shooting, but he was cleared of all charges earlier this spring, which paved the way for any interested team to consider such a signing.
The best hope for Sneed was to return to the team that drafted him in the first place. He's back with a coaching staff that knows him, and he can begin to rebuild the trust and good will that afforded him such life-changing opportunities in the first place.
The opportunity for the Chiefs
A secondary that has watched Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams, Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson, and more leave the cornerbacks room could use as many competitors as it can get. The team has certainly made considerable investments to rebuild the secondary, but K.C. is relying on a lot of young performers who've never played in Spags' system.
Mansoor Delane is the team's new pillar after being drafted at No. 4 overall. Nohl Williams is also around, as is Kristian Fulton. That gives K.C. a solid core and should keep them from penciling Sneed into any sort of major responsibility, since his availability is a real question mark going forward. That said, any free-agent visit certainly included medical checks and they signed him anyway—a positive sign for all parties involved.
If anything, the addition of Sneed is a low-risk move that has a greater chance of turning into something meaningful than most such signings. It wasn't so long ago that Sneed's presence in the Chiefs' secondary forced opposing coordinators to alter their plans. If there's even a glimmer of hope that he could provide an echo of that same player, it's a savvy move by Veach to bring him in.
Add us as a preferred source on Google