“Very Stressful Right Now”: L’Jarius Sneed Opens Up About Struggles in Free Agency & Way Back to Kansas City

NFL is a tough business, and even if you perform at the highest level and contribute significantly towards the team’s success, you are still dispensable. L’Jarius Sneed is standing at a similar moment in his career. The former Louisiana Bulldog cornerback was pivotal in another Chiefs’ campaign that yielded their second back-to-back Lombardy Trophy. Yet, it has been speculated that the star cornerback might not be in Kansas next season.

The defending champions have always been stingy in the market, and don’t mind letting their star players leave. Remember Tyreek Hill? Nonetheless, Sneed is up for a contract extension which is yet to come and he is now free to test the murky waters of free agency. Despite the Chiefs clearing $21.6 million in cap space by restructuring Mahomes’ contract, the club has yet to make a move. But it’s worth mentioning that they placed a non-exclusive franchise tag of $19.8 million on the two-time Super Bowl champ.

Even though he is free to negotiate a new contract with any franchise, the star CB has expressed his wish to come back to Arrowhead and clinch a three-peat with the franchise. Harold R. Kuntz, sports anchor for Fox4KC, recently spoke with Sneed at a charity event of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Kansas City where he asserted that his life is hectic right now with a newborn baby and the looming free agency. He, however, made it known that he wishes to come back to Kansas City this year.

“My life is kinda fun, but stressful right now. I don’t sleep at night. I have a kid, a newborn. I have got free agency, just a lot going on but taking it all in one day at a time,” Sneed said. “Hopefully, I’m with the Chiefs. Hopefully, I’m still here and we can go back and repeat.”

Not so surprisingly, fans are on board with the idea of keeping Sneed around. They feel that the Chiefs’ secondary will significantly suffer without him.

Fans React to L’Jarius Sneed’s Desire to Stay With the Chiefs

As soon as Sneed’s statements surfaced online, fans were quick to reminisce about the game-sealing play the star CB executed against the Ravens in the AFC Championship. Some also expressed that Sneed deserves a big payday, as his performances last season in their secondary alongside Trent McDuffie were simply mesmerizing — and he is a true artist of his craft, truly deserving of the ‘bag’.

One fan expressed, “If we lose Sneed our def is going to be hurt badly. He’s a must-keep!”

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While Sneed expressed his desire to come back and the Chiefs would definitely want him to, the hurdle lies in his market valuation, which is $16.3 million, according to Spotrac. The Chiefs may have cleared over $20 million in cap space, but that doesn’t mean it will be wise to use the majority of that money on one Corner especially when they could probably get by without him.

McDuffie has shown that he is ready to take on the starting role, which means the Chiefs can entertain the idea of trading Sneed, much like they traded Ward after the 2020 SB victory. Besides Sneed and McDuffie, they have four more corners on their roster — Jaylen Watson and Joshua Williams are ready for more snaps, and Nick Jones and Ekow Boye-Doe can provide a solid cover for them. They will need $7,878,024 to sign the upcoming draft class, so trading their star Corner seems like a wise proposition.