How Brett Veach has handled some of the Chiefs best defensive free agents

Let's take a look back at those previous roster decisions with major defensive free agents to discern what the Chiefs may do.

When saddled with the decision of keeping an elite-level defender, the Kansas City Chiefs haven't always made the best choices. In some ways, it's helped them move on from large contracts and go after young talent in the draft. Those decisions have paved the way for them to overhaul the defensive side of the ball and turn it into a top-10 unit over the past 2 seasons.

But, what happens when you sacrifice top-flight talent for draft choices, and then never retain those picks? Where does that leave your team? That's where we find this current Chiefs team, with multiple decisions to make on that side of the ball, including L'Jarius Sneed, Willie Gay, Nick Bolton, and Trent McDuffie who are all coming up for extensions in the next couple of seasons.

What are the Kansas City Chiefs to do with these upcoming extensions? Let's take a look at what they've done in the past to gain insight into what they may do in the future.

2019 | Dee Ford

The most recent move made by the Chiefs with what looked to be a dominant defender came in 2019 with Dee Ford. Ford was coming off a career year in 2018 in which he played in all 16 games, and forced 7 fumbles to go along with 13 sacks.

Even though his career got off to a slow start, Ford's career seemed to be looking up. After a career-defining guffaw in the AFC Championship game that season, many fans clamored for Ford to be released/traded, but not many thought it would happen.

That offseason, however, fans got their wish, and Ford was shipped to the San Francisco 49ers for a second round pick. Having posted 9 total sacks in the 4 years since, this was the correct move by the Chiefs front office.

2018 | Marcus Peters

Next on this list is the game-changing, trash-talking former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Marcus Peters took the league by storm as a rookie and led the league in interceptions in 2015. Two more All-Pro and Pro Bowl seasons followed before Marcus Peters was traded to the Los Angeles Rams.

Losing such a key piece in the secondary set the Chiefs back for a few years defensively. Looking back on letting go of Peters, it looks like the Chiefs made the right call, given the negative locker room and on-the-field presence Peters was becoming.

2018 | Justin Houston

One of the league's elite pass-rushers for over a decade, Justin Houston was a game-wrecker in Kansas City for eight seasons, posting 78.5 sacks to go along with 4 Pro Bowls and an All-Pro nod in 2014.

After a historic 2014 season, and receiving the franchise tag to start 2015, the Chiefs signed Houston to a 6-year, $101 million deal later that year. Houston was released after three injury-riddled seasons in four years from 2015 to 2018.

Looking back, releasing Houston wasn't the correct move. Given he was so expensive, however, it's understandable why the Chiefs made the decision they did. Houston has as many sacks in the 4 years since leaving KC as he had in the 4 years before he left. He is a veteran pass rusher that the Chiefs would've liked to have—especially given that they signed Frank Clark to a 5-year, $105 million deal a little over a year later in 2019.

2023 | L'Jarius Sneed

Now, what should the Chiefs do about L'Jarius Sneed? He was second on the team in tackles from the cornerback spot in 2022 and on track to do it again in 2023. Sneed isn't just a cornerback, though; he is a multi-faceted defender who can take down running backs in the backfield and lock down top-tier wide receivers.

Coming into his own as a potential All-Pro at just 26 years old means the Chiefs could lock him up for much of his prime years, providing elite play for years to come. For a team missing its heyday with high-quality secondary players such as Eric Berry, Marcus Peters and Tyrann Mathieu, this a no-brainer.

However, overpaying has become a worry for fans when it comes to retaining in-house free agents. Given Sneed's ability, the Chiefs have to be careful not to make it difficult to re-sign Willie Gay, Nick Bolton, or Trent McDuffie in the years to come.

Spotrac has Sneed calculated as the No. 16 corner based on contract with their model predicting the Chiefs sign him to a 4-year, $47,393,452 deal. With Mahomes eating up another 7% of the cap next year, it will become much more difficult to retain every in-house free agent, Be prepared for touch decisions to be made by this front office to remain competitive.

The Chiefs must make up for previous sins in regards to retaining dominant defenders in-house. The Chiefs are riding the #2 defense based on yards in the NFL in no small part due to Sneed's play, and the rent has come due.