Brett Veach prioritizing re-signing Chris Jones, L'Jarius Sneed

[RunKC]

What some of us have been wondering...

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said he is aware of the challenge the organization faces in re-signing both defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L'Jarius Sneed but said it would be an offseason priority to get both players under new contracts.

"Sometimes I look at our situation and I'm like, 'I don't know how we're going to do this,' but we usually work through things systematically and have a list of the priorities,'' Veach said as the Chiefs continued preparations for Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers. "Certainly, Chris and LJ are at the top of the list.

"It's extremely hard because you have two keystone players there.''

Jones, 29, has been one of the NFL's top pass-rushers for years. He had 10.5 sacks this season to tie for the team lead after missing training camp and the first regular-season game while holding out for a new contract.

He didn't get the extension he was looking for, but the Chiefs sweetened the final season of his existing contract.

"It was important for us to mend the fences with Chris because we love him and he's an iconic player here, not just here, but I mean of all time,'' Veach said. "That was important for us, and we'll continue to work hard and see if we can get something done, but it will be a priority for us.''

The Chiefs used Sneed, 27, this season to defend against the opponent's top receiver much of the time, and none had big games against him.

Jones and Sneed are key players for an improved Chiefs defense that allowed fewer points than all but one other team during the regular season and held the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens to 41 total points in the playoffs.

The Chiefs had defenses that were at times competitive since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018, but rarely were they consistently so. Veach and the Chiefs found the task of building a top defense difficult because the past few seasons they were carrying Mahomes' massive contract.

"I still remember in '17 and '18 just saying if we can just get them to punt just once we've got a shot,'' Veach said. "Now all of a sudden it's like all we've got to do is just score once and we're good.

"Going from where we were in '17 and '18 to having one of the best defenses, knowing the constraints we had of just paying [Mahomes] and probably drafting later [in rounds], I don't think I ever envisioned having a top one or two defense.''

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-ljarius-sneed

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

If not Mooney then Hollywood, Samuel, Slayton, Brown, etc

We still need to sign a bunch of guys on D as well we are going cheap at WR again this year .

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Monticore

We still need to sign a bunch of guys on D as well we are going cheap at WR again this year .

Hopefully the offense gets some attention this year.


A lot of work needed.

[Monticore]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

Hopefully the offense gets some attention this year.


A lot of work needed.

Our depth is going to take a hit , not as many picks either this year will be tough to move up and get guys we really want too

[dirk digler]

Multiple sources tell me the Chiefs are trending toward using the franchise tag on star corner L'Jarius Sneed.

I'm told while nothing is 100 percent at this stage, the likelihood of Sneed being tagged is "75-80 percent."

— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) February 27, 2024

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

Multiple sources tell me the Chiefs are trending toward using the franchise tag on star corner L'Jarius Sneed.

I'm told while nothing is 100 percent at this stage, the likelihood of Sneed being tagged is "75-80 percent."

— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) February 27, 2024

It makes no sense not to unless you dont think he will be traded and think that knee is toast.

[BossChief]

I’ll be surprised if we don’t trade Sneed to Detroit or Philly for their first.

If we can’t keep him, he needs to go to the NFC and those teams make the most sense.

[philfree]

Why the hots for Mooney? His last two seasons weren't much. 31 receptions out of 61 targets?

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by philfree

Why the hots for Mooney? His last two seasons weren't much. 31 receptions out of 61 targets?

They want a younger MVS. Guy has the dropsies. I'd rather have Hollywood all day.

[TheGuardian]

My guess is we do tag Sneed and get Jones contract worked out.

I also don't think we'll trade Sneed. I think both of those guys are cornerstones we will keep but you never know.

If we do trade him yes it'll be to some NFC team

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

They want a younger MVS. Guy has the dropsies. I'd rather have Hollywood all day.

Darnell Mooney does not have the dropsies. He has a career drop rate of like 4 percent and has only been above the rough league average of 7% one time in his career.

The concept of him having issues with drops is fiction driven by one drop this past season.

I'd rather have Hollywood, too. But Mooney is not a bad fit.

Originally Posted by philfree

Why the hots for Mooney? His last two seasons weren't much. 31 receptions out of 61 targets?

I don't know that people have the hots for him. He's just a good fit, who won't break the bank, who has the potential and skills to outplay the contract.

He also has played with absolute dogshit at QB the past two years.

Josh Fields sucks, man, at least at throwing the ball and reading his progressions.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Darnell Mooney does not have the dropsies. He has a career drop rate of like 4 percent and has only been above the rough league average of 7% one time in his career.

The concept of him having issues with drops is fiction driven by one drop this past season.

I'd rather have Hollywood, too. But Mooney is not a bad fit.



I don't know that people have the hots for him. He's just a good fit, who won't break the bank, who has the potential and skills to outplay the contract.

He also has played with absolute dogshit at QB the past two years.

Josh Fields sucks, man, at least at throwing the ball and reading his progressions.

Yeah Mooney in KC and people are going to be saying we stole him.

[O.city]

#Chiefs have informed L’Jarius Sneed they are prepared to use the franchise tag and are open to consummate a trade off it if no long-term deal is reached, per source.

Sneed is agreeable to the scenario, giving him chance to talk with other teams while K.C. remains in play pic.twitter.com/JayTzcAW0Y

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 27, 2024

[irafreak]

So going to test the market but we still have control. Kind of what we figured isn't it?

[pugsnotdrugs19]

This is what I think is best course of action

Offer something kinda team friendly, probably 3 years at $45m or so. If he accepts, great. If he doesn’t, trade him for max value now.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

This is what I think is best course of action

Offer something kinda team friendly, probably 3 years at $45m or so. If he accepts, great. If he doesn’t, trade him for max value now.

That's awfully hard to do from a pure math standpoint.

I mean he's going to want $20 million in year 1 (tag is $19.2).

So let's say we bonus him out at $15 million and base salary of $5 million.

You're talking about 2 years and $25 million on the backside of that now. So...what, base salaries of $10 and $15 million?

5/10/15 million with a signing bonus of $15 million gets your $45. But he's not taking $10 and $15 million in cash payments over his last two prime seasons. Even if you guarantee the $10 million....dude, he ain't signing that. He probably shouldn't sign that. I mean he's essentially taking a paycut in 2025 by doing that (a massive one at that).

I just don't think a super friendly offer is on the table at this point. I think you MIGHT be able to get $18 million in AAV over the next 3 seasons if they're all practically guaranteed but even that's going to be a stretch.

Dude's not gonna come cheap, IMO.