Chiefs GM Brett Veach said Tuesday at the Combine he anticipates having to use the franchise tag this offseason, per Matt Verderame.
The team has two key pending free agents in DT Chris Jones and CB L’Jarius Sneed who were instrumental in Kansas City’s Super Bowl win. Veach said the goal is to keep both players but he can only use the tag on one.
Of the two, James Palmer thinks Sneed is more likely to get the tender as it will be significantly lower than the tender for Jones. Other reports have indicated Jones is not expected to be tagged.
The franchise tag for cornerbacks will be $19.8 million, while the tag for Jones would be $32 million. Both sums would be fully guaranteed and give the two sides until mid-July to negotiate a long-term deal.
Jones, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2016 out of Mississippi State. He played out the final year of his four-year, $6.231 million contract and made a base salary of $1.19 million in the final year of the agreement.
The Chiefs franchised Jones before eventually signing him a four-year, $85M extension that included $60 million guaranteed.
Jones just finished the final year of that deal and was set to make a base salary of $19.5 million in 2023 when he held out through Week 1. The team gave him $6.75 million in incentives to end his contract holdout.
In 2023, Jones appeared in 16 games for the Chiefs and recorded 30 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and four passes defended.
Sneed, 27, was selected with the No. 138 overall pick by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL draft. He played out the final year of his four-year $3.9 million contract with Kansas City.
Sneed is in line to test the open market for the first time in his NFL career.
In 2023, Sneed appeared in 16 games for the Chiefs and recorded 78 total tackles, five tackles for loss, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and 14 pass defenses.
We have both included in our Top 100 – 2024 Free Agents list.
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