After weeks of rumors that the Kansas City Chiefs were eyeing the use of the franchise tag on cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, the team made it official on Monday. Per NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, the Chiefs applied the tag before the NFL's deadline of Tuesday, March 5.
With the application of the tag, some new realities become official for both sides.
The #Chiefs have now officially franchise tagged CB L'Jarius Sneed, as they said they would. He has permission to speak with teams about a potential trade, making him an intriguing candidate to land elsewhere for draft pick compensation.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2024
If no trade, he may just play on the tag. pic.twitter.com/JrI5gQOvJT
For Sneed, he now loses most control over which team he plays for in 2024—at least without some goodwill from the Chiefs' side on this one. The Chiefs did give him a chance to work out a trade in advance leading up to the use of the franchise tag, so it seems they want to help him find a nice new home if needed, but he is now unable to hit the open market at all so there's little leverage if push comes to shove.
The Chiefs have officially used the franchise tag on Sneed before free agency begins next week.
This means the Chiefs can either keep Sneed for the '24 season in their attempts to run it back with a one-year price tag of approximately $19 million or they can deal him to another team for whatever assets they deem enough. The persistent rumored ask has been a second-round pick..
As for the Chiefs, they now control Sneed's market but they have to now worry about working around his cap hit which lowers their leverage with other teams who know they have to pay both the Chiefs and the player.
The other shoe for the Chiefs is also that Chris Jones is now free to hit free agency, if he so desires, because the team used the tag on Sneed instead. The reports coming out about Jones and the Chiefs indicate a lot of positive momentum toward a long-term extension, so perhaps this point is moot, but given the previous surprises in this relationship—including last year's holdout—it'll be something to watch until the ink is dry on a new deal.
Will Sneed be traded away? Will he return on a pricey one-year deal? Those questions are yet to be answered in the days ahead.