The Chiefs finally put an end to the saga surrounding L’Jarius Sneed by trading him to the Titans with a 2024 7th-round pick for a 2025 3rd-round pick and a 2024 7th-round pick. Despite playing a pivotal role last season during their run to consecutive Super Bowl victories, Kansas City was unwilling to pay his market price.
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While the fans chalked up the decision as a cost of winning championships, they were left flabbergasted by the terms of this trade. Many felt that the Chiefs were fleeced by the Titans and the front office could have gotten better draft capital. Chiefs fans expected teams to give up at least a 2nd round pick for their star CB. As per Spotrac, Sneed signed a 4 year, $76,000,000 contract with Tennessee. The contract includes $55 million in guaranteed money and he will be taking home $19 million annually.
The former Chiefs Offensive Tackle and Super Bowl champion, Mitchell Schwartz put out a series of Tweets on X( formerly Twitter) explaining how the trade works and why the defending champs got what they deserved based on certain factors. He defended Veech and the organization for getting the best they could.
Schwartz stated that fans should stop complaining. He contends, “You’re not JUST trading Sneed. Factoring in the contract the other team needs to pay, age, and medicals, he’s clearly not worth more than that. KC traded him for the most they could get.” Given he is 28, on a franchise tag and has issues with his knees, and the fact that Sneed wanted to be paid like other DBs in the league, the franchise got the most they could.
Can we please stop saying this. Why didn’t we get a better pick if he was worth more??
You’re not JUST trading Sneed. Factoring in the contract the other team needs to pay, age, and medicals, he’s clearly not worth more than that. KC traded him for the most they could get. https://t.co/9cdmD8zUjH
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) March 23, 2024
He even defended the Chief’s Corner’s decision to demand a big lucrative contract. He stated that L’Jarius Sneed asking for $20 million is not preposterous because the going rate for a top Corner in the league hovers around this much and Jaire Alexander got a somewhat bigger contract of $21 million two years ago when the cap space was only $208 million.
I don’t get why people are balking at Sneed asking for $20m or more a year. The highest paid corner signed for $21 per year 2 years ago when the cap was $208m. That equates to close to $26m per year now. So why is 4/80 or something in that vicinity too much for these other teams?
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) March 22, 2024
While many were satisfied with how Schwartz dealt with all the questions and comments and accepted that the front office knew what they are doing, however, some of the fans still questioned the trade.
Chiefdom Responds to the L’Jarius Sneed Trade
The former OT engaged in a lengthy conversation with the fans on X, putting out a series of posts explaining his stance on the Sneed trade. Many fans stuck to their convictions and stated that the franchise didn’t get an appropriate compensation for their star corner. Others said if it were up to them, they could have kept him for a year on the tag because his performances were worth that money. While they are happy to see him get compensated fairly, they still can’t fathom how they got lowballed. A fan felt that the Titans took advantage of the Chiefs. Fans said,
The Chiefs didn’t want to pay him and traded him for what they could get from a team that was willing to pay him. The front office that has constructed 8 straight division titles, 6 conf champ games, 4 conf titles and 3 SB wins knows what they’re doing more than ppl on twitter
— MPM (@mmunning) March 23, 2024
A fan chimed in and added,
This is really simple. Carlton Davis was under contract for 2 years. Sneed needed a contract extension as part of the trade. So any team giving away a pick was also having to commit $80M to Sneed. Go look at the history of those trades. Always lower comp than expected bc of it
— Joshua Popejoy (@joshuapopejoy) March 23, 2024
A fan quipped,
Fantasy football really has people thinking they could do Veach’s job….
— Chad Pietig (@ChadPietig) March 23, 2024
Someone stated,
No one else in the NFL wanted to trade more for him, but it’s not fair because you don’t think it isn’t? The trade market is the trade market. He clearly wasn’t that valuable to the other teams. And KC didn’t value him at that salary so they got the best they could for him. https://t.co/RsFebA8A8E
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) March 23, 2024
A user commented,
Sure the front office helped win the last two Super Bowls but they also didn’t time the off-season perfectly to get a slightly better draft pick in a trade, so who can really say if they are good?
— Guy Kazama (@foundaguykazama) March 23, 2024
Another wrote,
I would’ve rather had kept him under the tag. His play was better than the compensation. He deserves all the money, happy for him but, just doesn’t sit right.
— EastCoast Chiefs Fan (@Ayrrowz) March 23, 2024
Other said,
Yea. But a 2025 third… when Carlton Davis fetched a 2024 third feels like the Chiefs didn’t play this perfectly
— Tanner Tolbert (@tanner_tolbert_) March 23, 2024
The Chiefs are no stranger to trading their best players like Sneed, especially after lifting the Lombardy Trophy. They traded Charvarius Ward after the 2019 SB win and then traded their best receiver Tyreek Hill when they thought they could get a good price for him. They still managed to win consecutive Super Bowls without him. Kansas City has always been stingy when it comes to paying big money.
But that’s what the winning teams do. They know how to keep building rosters capable of winning trophies. The Patriots did it. Even when Brady left money on the table, the team found cheap pieces to build rosters rather than overpaying players. Defending champions still have enough depth in the position and Trent McDuffie will now take over for L’Jarius Sneed in that secondary.
