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

[Megatron96]

We went 19 consecutive drives between the BAL game and the SB without scoring a TD. And it took a fluke accidental touch on STs to score that 2nd TD. Otherwise KC goes 23 drives between scores.

The offense isn’t fixed.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mecca

He doesn't remotely have that kind of wear on his tires though, he sat for awhile at Alabama, got a year off from gambling in Atlanta.

He is not used and abused.

Age is age.

For WRs its not the impacts that get you - its merely the time. This isn't a RB that's kept tread on the tires by not being hit. 90% of these guys just lose explosion as they age. Even Hill will start to slow down. It's a rare rare rare bird that hits 30 and is still at/near the levels of explosion he had in his 20s.

That's why I'm wary of Boyd, though the argument would be that Boyd never relied much on explosion to begin with (though I think he did in his early/mid 20s). For Ridley, when the legs go, he's not gonna bring much to the table.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I think one thing we lost sight of was just how god-awful MVS was. Or more accurately, we knew how bad he was and let it color just how valuable merely being mediocre in that role would've been.

People say "hey, we need a guy who's reliable on 3rd downs" but man, we have 2 of those already. And how many of those guys do you REALLY need to put up a strong 3rd down conversion rate?

What we need is an explosive downfield threat who can keep safeties honest. And Davis is absolutely that. MVS was before he wasn't and he was instrumental in us being the #1 offense in football in 2022 because of it.

Davis is a guy who is likely to be the most cost effective option to get us that. He's not an all-fields Z like Hollywood or even Ridley might be, but he'd cost half as much. If he doesn't - okay, don't sign him. But I think he will be.

And that would be enormous towards the overall productivity of our offense. Now if Hardman comes back cheap then you might be able to talk me into a different style of WR.

But the money I'm allocating to the FA receiver (probably $8 million or so as a max cap slot in 2024) isn't going to meaningfully change. That's about as much as I'm willing to spend on that player when I'm also intending to get another 1st or 2nd day WR in the draft.

I just don't see the priority there. For me the priority is bringing back Sneed and Jones then working from there. And once that's done, draft picks are signed and some extensions doled out, I think we're looking at a fairly static salary slot that guys like Ridley and Brown just aren't going to fit in.

Just going off Spotrac here..

Gave Davis 13.6 avg, projected salary 4 years 54.4 million dollars

[Red Dawg]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

We went 19 consecutive drives between the BAL game and the SB without scoring a TD. And it took a fluke accidental touch on STs to score that 2nd TD. Otherwise KC goes 23 drives between scores.

The offense isn’t fixed.

I agree. We can't have this level of WR talent and expect the same result. Defense had a season for the ages.

[UChieffyBugger]

Watching clips of Mooney and it's clear the guy has a number one WR skillset. Good routes, makes tough catches and gets open at different levels. Playing with Trubisky, Foles and Fields is a tough card to be dealt even for a prime Randy Moss imo. With Pat I think Mooney could be very dangerous tbh.

Mooney
Brown
Pittman
Davis

I expect one of these to be in KC next year. Greg Dortch is another guy keep an eye on.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

We went 19 consecutive drives between the BAL game and the SB without scoring a TD. And it took a fluke accidental touch on STs to score that 2nd TD. Otherwise KC goes 23 drives between scores.

The offense isn’t fixed.

True.

But we also pulled way back on the reigns against Baltimore. And the first half of the SB just is what it is. Its weird. You haven't played in 2 weeks, your practice schedule is wonky, the stress is immense. And Mahomes was tight and playing a little sped up (the All-22 reviews coming out support my real time take on that as well).

I think it's fair to also look at the Dolphins game, the totality of the Bills game and the first couple drives of the Ravens game against a ferocious defense (not to mention the 2nd half of the SB when everyone got their wits back about them) and say that in totality the offense is a HELL of a lot closer to what we want than it looked for at times this season.

I don't think there's a reason to hit a panic button here.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Just going off Spotrac here..

Gave Davis 13.6 avg, projected salary 4 years 54.4 million dollars

Spotrac also had Sneed at like $14 million/yr.

I just don't think the spotrac projections have any value at all right now.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by UChieffyBugger

Watching clips of Mooney and it's clear the guy has a number one WR skillset. Good routes, makes tough catches and gets open at different levels. Playing with Trubisky, Foleshill and Fields is a tough card to be dealt even for a prime Randy Moss imo. With Pat I think Mooney could be very dangerous tbh.

Mooney
Brown
Pittman
Davis

I expect one of these to be in KC next year. Greg Dortch is another team keep an eye on.

Mooney signing could come down to Nagy and how he feels about him.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Spotrac also had Sneed at like $14 million/yr.

I just don't think the spotrac projections have any value at all right now.

Sneed got a bump I guess cause he's at 16.3 now.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Mooney signing could come down to Nagy and how he feels about him.

True.

Mooney feels like an Andy Reid receiver to me.

I think he’d mesh well with Rice and Kelce.

[Nirvana58]

Someone like Tyler Lockett would be perfect. Seems like he should be released if he doesn't renegotiate his contract.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by UChieffyBugger

Watching clips of Mooney and it's clear the guy has a number one WR skillset. Good routes, makes tough catches and gets open at different levels. Playing with Trubisky, Foleshill and Fields is a tough card to be dealt even for a prime Randy Moss imo. With Pat I think Mooney could be very dangerous tbh.

Mooney
Brown
Pittman
Davis

I expect one of these to be in KC next year. Greg Dortch is another team keep an eye on.

Pittman may end up the top WR on the market and that's if he doesn't get tagged. I don't imagine Pittman will be here and I'm not sure he's a complementary option if he is. At a likely $17 million+/season for a possession receiver, I'm just not terribly interested.

In terms of probability I'd say Mooney probably is the highest likelihood given skill-set, age and probable cost:

Mooney
Davis
Samuel (EB may have something to say here)
Boyd
Noah Brown (2nd waive vet minimum deal like James)
KJ Osborn (see above)
Hollywood Brown (just gonna cost too much, IMO)
Ridley
Pittman

[crispystl]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Joe Horn

First person I thought of. Then Eddie Kennison next.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I'm like the only Calvin Ridley person, apparently.

Sign me up

[crispystl]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I just don't see what Boyd does well. He's not fast, sudden or terribly physical. I mean I guess you could call him a poor man's McLaurin and not be far off but that also just kinda makes him a rich guys Demarcus Robinson.

I dunno - just seems like he's the kind of guy we oughta be able to find cheaper or in the middle rounds.

I agree. I think Boyd would be terrible value for us.