Kansas City Chiefs reportedly have found trade partner for cornerback L’Jarius Sneed

Less than three weeks after allowing cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to seek a trade, the Chiefs reportedly have a deal in place.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday night Sneed was being traded to the Tennessee Titans. In return, the Chiefs would receive a third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and the teams would swap seventh-round picks in this year’s draft.

Tennessee has three picks in the seventh round (No. 221 overall, No. 227 and No. 242). The Chiefs have pick No. 252 overall in the seventh round.

The Chiefs on March 4 placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Sneed, which allowed him to seek a trade. Speculation over the past week had focused on the Titans and Colts as being potential trade partners for Sneed.

In addition to working out trade details with the Chiefs, a team had to finalize a new contract with Sneed. That apparently has been done, although terms of the contract with the Titans are not yet known.

Schefter had reported earlier this month that Sneed was seeking “a contract that would conceivably make him the highest-paid cornerback in all of football.”

Under the franchise tag, Sneed would have earned $19.8 million in the 2024 season.

Sneed was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft and he helped the Chiefs win a pair of Super Bowl championships.

At the 101 Awards on Friday night, quarterback Patrick Mahomes expressed his desire to see Sneed return to the Chiefs.

“I think you’ll hear it from everybody on our team that we want Sneed, the player he is, the person that he is,” Mahomes said. “He’s one of those guys that’s hungry every single day he’s in the building. He’s not gonna be the most vocal guy. He’s not gonna be always yelling and screaming, but (it’s) the mindset that he has and that determination of how he practices.

“You see it every day and he leads those guys. And so we want everybody to get their money and ... whatever happens we will be excited for him, but hopefully that’s (with) the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Although Sneed did not make an All-Pro or Pro Bowl team in his seasons with the Chiefs, he is considered one of the game’s top cornerbacks. Sneed did not allow a touchdown pass last season until the Divisional Round playoff victory at Buffalo.

Perhaps his biggest play of last season came in the AFC Championship Game, when Sneed forced a fumble from Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers as he was diving into the end zone, preventing a touchdown. Trent McDuffie recovered the fumble for a touchback.

According to Pro Football Focus, Sneed is one of three cornerbacks to play at least 1,000 snaps on the perimeter and in the slot over the past four seasons.

The Chiefs will miss Sneed but the cupboard isn’t bare at the position. In his second season, McDuffie was voted All-Pro. Also selected in the 2022 draft were corners Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson, along with Nazeeh Johnson, who missed last season with an injury.