What previous tag-and-trade scenarios can teach the Chiefs

With the Kansas City Chiefs slapping the franchise tag on L'Jarius Sneed, the focus now shifts to what happens next for Sneed.

The Chiefs are no strangers to using the franchise tag on players, with this being the sixth time they've done so over the last decade. In three of those instances, the Chiefs did not agree to an extension with the tagged player. In two of those instances, the Chiefs and the player reached an extension. Only one time has Kansas City tagged a player and then traded him.

The Chiefs were forthcoming with Sneed about the situation. According to NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Chiefs told Sneed that if the two can't agree on a new contract then they'll be open to trading him. This would mark the second time that the Chiefs have done this to a player on the franchise tag and would be the seventh time overall that a team has tagged a player and then sent them elsewhere.

Let's take a look at every instance where a player was hit with the franchise tag and then traded.

What have previous tag-and-trade situations looked like in NFL history?

The first such instance came in 2018 when the Miami Dolphins slapped the tag on wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who was coming off a season where he caught 112 passes for 987 yards and nine touchdowns. After a deal was not reached, the Dolphins traded Landry to the Cleveland Browns for a fourth and seventh-round pick. Landry promptly signed the wideout to a five-year extension worth $75.5 million. This, of course, was the offseason where everyone had crowned the Browns Super Bowl champions in the offseason.

Landry went on to spend spend four years with the Browns while hauling in 3,560 yards and 15 scores. He signed with the Saints in 2022 and had a disappointing season, which might have explained why he didn't sign with anyone in 2023.

The very next year saw the tag-and-trade occur on three different occasions with one of those involving the Chiefs. KC franchise tagged Dee Ford and traded him to San Francisco in exchange for a second-round pick while trading for Frank Clark, who the Seahawks had tagged and traded. The Chiefs surrendered a first-round pick and a second-round pick in a later draft for Clark.

The Texans tagged former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney and sent him to Seattle in exchange for a third-round pick and two players. Clark signed a five-year extension worth $105.5 million with Kansas City and we know how that turned out for both sides. Ford signed a five-year extension worth $85.5 million with the 49ers and played 18 games with two starts in a three-year span. Clowney and the Seahawks did not work out, and he's been with four different teams over the last five years.

In 2020, the Jaguars franchise tagged Yannick Ngakoue but were unable to agree on a new deal. Jacksonville sent Ngakoue to the Vikings for second and fifth-round picks where he only played six games before getting sent to the Ravens for the rest of the season. He's spent the last three years with three different teams.

The most recent example of a player being tagged and then sent elsewhere was in 2022 when the Packers did so with Davante Adams. The Packers franchised the wideout and then traded him to the Raiders in exchange for a first and second-round pick to reunite him with Derek Carr where he signed a five-year extension worth $120 million.

The Chiefs have tagged and traded a player one time. Will they end up doing it again with L'Jarius Sneed?