The Chiefs will look to focus on the future after trading their star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to Tennessee in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick. The former Louisiana Bulldog is now officially a Titan after agreeing to a 4-year, $76 million contract with the franchise. With his departure, there is expected to be a significant void in the Chiefs’ secondary, which is likely to be filled by backup Trent McDuffie, who, amidst his partner in crime’s departure, couldn’t help but express his gratitude.
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The defending champs took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a heartwarming goodbye video of Sneed — and McDuffie took the opportunity to express how he felt about his former teammate. Reposting that video, he remarked that L’Jarius is the best and most efficient Corners in the league and wished him luck for his journey ahead.
” Coldest in the business. Best I’ve been around, keep solidifying your (family’s) legacy,” McDuffie’s caption read.
It’s no secret that Duffie and Sneed dominated Spagnuolo’s secondary. The former Huskies star felt it in his core too, as he once stated that he and Sneed were very hungry for success, as per Sports Illustrated. While their job may not be the most glamorous, they are ready to give everything for the team, whether it involves tackling, blitzing, or even playing as a safety. And give everything they did. They bore the fruit of their success too, winning two back-to-back Super Bowls.
“We’re some dogs. We’ll do the dirty work, we’ll go line up on an island, we’ll go blitz for you, we’ll go play safety for you. And also, just two dudes who ain’t afraid to go up and tackle anybody,” the Chiefs’ CB said.
McDuffie will soon be the beneficiary of the Sneed trade, as the former first-round pick will be moved into the CB1 role. As per Pro Football Reference, the Chiefs’ new possible starting Corner played 16 games and 977 Snap Counts and made 60 solo tackles, 3 sacks, and 5 Forced Fumbles. For his efforts, he earned a First Team All-Pro nod last year.
Seeing the progress of their 2022 first-round pick, the defending champions, were sure that they could survive without their star corner Sneed just like they did in the past.
Kansas City Chiefs Were Ready to Move On from L’Jarius Sneed
Andy Reid and his Chiefs drafted L’Jarius Sneed in the fourth round of the 2020 draft and turned him into one of the best lockdown corners in the league. They have been able to achieve similar results with many other players such as Mahomes, who was drafted in 2017 and rode the bench for a year behind Alex Smith, before being thrust into the starting role. Travis Kelce was an immature third-round pick, who took a season to get into his best form.
Nonetheless, after Sneed’s exit, the team has been left with 5 Corners. Next season, McDuffie will have to partner with Jaylen Watson, Joshua Williams, Nick Jones, and Ekow Boye-Doe. Aside from L’Jarius and Trent, Watson played most snaps in the corner position, playing 440 snaps during the regular season, and contributed 33 tackles (two for loss), six passes defended, two quarterback hits, and a couple of sacks. Williams started 2 games and played 321 snaps.
While they have ample cover in the position, they might draft another Corner if the opportunity presents and they won’t have to give up a lot of drafts capital to move up from their 32nd pick to draft a corner in the first round just like they drafted McDuffie. As per Tankathon, at least 5 CBs are expected to be drafted on the first day — Quinyon Mitchell, Terrion Arnold, Nate Wiggins, Cooper DeJean, and Kool-Aid McKinstry.
While it is hard to see anyone fall to the 32nd pick, if anyone is still on the board, the Chiefs might trade up to draft either DeJean or McKinstry just like they did with McDuffie.
