Kansas City Chiefs make key offseason decision as star's future hangs in balance
The Kansas City Chiefs have placed the franchise tag on key cornerback L'Jarius Sneed instead of defensive tackle Chris Jones days before NFL free agency begins.
Sneed, 27, will thus remain under contract for the 2024 season instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent. But it is no guarantee that he will stay on the team, as they can still trade the two-time Super Bowl champion if they cannot agree on an extension.
Jones, who turns 30 before training camp starts, will enter free agency next week unless the team and player sign a new contract before 5pm GMT on March 11. There is seemingly optimism about the two parties agreeing on a deal by then, but nothing is official yet.
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Placing the tag on Sneed means the team has until mid-July to strike a deal with their cornerback. That allows them to focus on the future of Jones.
Choosing the former also saves the team cap room as Sneed's £15.5 million hit comes well below his teammate Jones, whose would have been over £25 million. That new single-season salary is almost four times Sneed's £4.3 million rookie contract.
But he is adamant about getting paid over the long term, not just next season. When appearing on "Up and Adams" days after winning the second Super Bowl of his career, the show's host Kay Adams asked Sneed what message he wanted to give to Chiefs general manager Brett Veach.
Sneed is staying in Kansas City for at least a little longer (No credit)"Man, pay me. Pay me. Pay me," Sneed said, laughing. "That's what I got to say - pay me."
Since then, the organisation has reportedly given the player permission to look for a trade, with as many as seven teams said to be interested in doing a deal with the Chiefs. During the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis late last month, Veach addressed the team's upcoming decisions.
"It is a money deal at the end of the day, and people aren't going to turn down a huge difference in contracts, but I think we get the benefit of breaking all ties," he told reporters after previously stating: "If you get close in negotiations, I think you get the added benefit of the ties go to the Chiefs."
He explained: "You'd like to be able to tag all the guys and pay all the guys. It's tough because the more you win, the more you've got to pay players, and, obviously, when you have this amount of success, you're paying a lot of players a lot of money, and then it's equally as tough because you're drafting late."
"Certainly, we want to do what we can to keep both those players, and that's our goal and intent. Hopefully, we're able to figure something out."
"Every free agency is different, unique and crazy, but I think our goal is to try to get both those players done and then work down the rest of our roster.''.
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