Despite our predilection for grading a trade right after it's been completed, it can often take months or even years to properly evaluate how NFL teams fared after making a deal. Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans can finally get down to judging the results of the L'Jarius Sneed trade after K.C. finally made use of their return in the original transaction.
On day two of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Chiefs used pick No. 66 overall to select Louisville defensive end Ashton Gillotte.
The Chiefs originally traded Sneed to the Titans in the 2024 offseason after initially utilizing the franchise tag to keep him under team control, as he was scheduled for free agency. Instead of keeping him on an expensive one-year deal or reaching a long-term extension to retain him in the secondary, Brett Veach found a trade partner in the Titans.
The Chiefs finally made use of the draft pick gained from the Titans in the Sneed deal.
Gillotte gives the Chiefs another disruptive player in the opposing backfield after watching him rack up 24.5 tackles for loss over the last two seasons for the Cardinals.
The Titans surrendered a future third-round choice for Sneed to the Chiefs, and that pick ended up being the third overall in the round—a major boost for the Chiefs. The Titans were also forced to serve up a lucrative contract extension for Sneed as well to the tune of four years and $76,4 million.
Even before the No. 66 pick was in, the Chiefs were already coming out winners in the Sneed trade just for having avoided the cost of paying him so handsomely. Sneed was largely ineffective for the Titans through five games before going down with a season-ending injury. Then came a recent arrest for assault with a deadly weapon after an alleged shooting involving Sneed and an associate at a Texas auto dealership last December.
Sneed is likely to face some sort of punishment from the league and/or team in the near future even as he faces question about his health as enters year two with the Titans. Last season, Sneed had 23 total tackles and allowed a 91.8 passer rating in five appearances for Tennessee.