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

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by Chief Pagan

Oh come on.

The inference is how bad of shape the team will be if star player X who made all of these these key plays (which you listed some) isn't resigned.

There were plenty of key plays that Hill made too, but that doesn't mean it was the best use of limited resources to have meet his salary demands...

Chiefs lose or don't make all 4 Superbowls without his contributions. That's not really arguable.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Fansy the Famous Bard

If you listen to what Spags says regarding Bolton, he is undeniably the leader of this defense and the cog that makes it all function. Jones is an emotional leader that is outspoken. Those are two completely different things. Bolton is the leader of the D. Jones is a leader on the TEAM.

Spags fawns over Bolton and Sneed.

Just going by what Spags says, both of those guys would get new deals this off-season. But we all see what Jones does.

You're absolutely right though - Bolton is the leader of that defense if Spags is to be believed.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Ray Lewis- Heart of the defense
Ed Reed- Soul of the defense

Chris Jones- Heart of the defense
Nick Bolton- Soul of the defense

This year's Chiefense drew comparisons to many of the all time leaders but I like this one specifically.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by ThyKingdomCome15

Ray Lewis- Heart of the defense
Ed Reed- Soul of the defense

Chris Jones- Heart of the defense
Nick Bolton- Soul of the defense

This year's Chiefense drew comparisons to many of the all time leaders but I like this one specifically.

One of the best defensive runs in NFL history. Has anyone else ever shut down 4 top 5 offenses?

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Spags fawns over Bolton and Sneed.

Just going by what Spags says, both of those guys would get new deals this off-season. But we all see what Jones does.

You're absolutely right though - Bolton is the leader of that defense if Spags is to be believed.

Isn’t it reasonable to think that Bolton’s number would only go up if you wait another year?

He was good this year but had an injury and a few bad moments.

I definitely think this is the time to get it done for the next few seasons.

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brioni

One of the best defensive runs in NFL history. Has anyone else ever shut down 4 top 5 offenses?

And these are modern era offenses too.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

I wonder if we hear Veach talking in a month here about how the Omenihu injury changed the complexion of some things entering the offseason.

No, they have no business getting into an insane bidding war for Chris, but without Omenihu, it gets that much harder to imagine how we win with a Jones-less four-man rush in 2024. There’d have to be a damn good alternate plan.

George is good and I believe in FAU’s development plan, but there’s absolutely no way you can put most your eggs in those baskets with a three-peat staring you right in the face.

[O.city]

Cut omenihu and use that money for Chris ?

[bigjosh]

Sneed is the must.

I love jones, and likely always will unless he goes to a rival team this year.

But sneed is a top tier corner just entering his prime years. His counterpart at CB is mcduffie, who is cost controlled for the next 3 seasons. And the next three guys on the cb depth chart are on 4th round or later salaries.

The money we save on letting either go wont replace them, but if i had to have one it is sneed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by O.city

Cut omenihu and use that money for Chris ?

I don’t think they’ll do that to Charles right now. Hope they don’t. They did it with Fish but I’m not sure the juice is gonna be worth the squeeze on CO.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

Isn’t it reasonable to think that Bolton’s number would only go up if you wait another year?

He was good this year but had an injury and a few bad moments.

I definitely think this is the time to get it done for the next few seasons.

Really good players really have no incentive to sign early. The fact that you acknowledge that he would cost more next year should tell you why he should wait till next year to re-sign.

It's almost always worth taking the injury risk to bet on yourself if you're a consistently good player.

[ThyKingdomCome15]

Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brioni

One of the best defensive runs in NFL history. Has anyone else ever shut down 4 top 5 offenses?

Not like that, no. The highest scoring team was the Niners and even they only scored 22 points in five quarters.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

I don’t think they’ll do that to Charles right now. Hope they don’t. They did it with Fish but I’m not sure the juice is gonna be worth the squeeze on CO.

He’s pretty out all year in an essential contract year

Does no good on the shelf

[O.city]

Originally Posted by -King-

Really good players really have no incentive to sign early. The fact that you acknowledge that he would cost more next year should tell you why he should wait till next year to re-sign.

It's almost always worth taking the injury risk to bet on yourself if you're a consistently good player.

Yeah you’d basically have to overpay a bit to get him signed now

Guys don’t seem to sign early much anymore. Everyone wants to get to FA

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

I wonder if we hear Veach talking in a month here about how the Omenihu injury changed the complexion of some things entering the offseason.

No, they have no business getting into an insane bidding war for Chris, but without Omenihu, it gets that much harder to imagine how we win with a Jones-less four-man rush in 2024. There’d have to be a damn good alternate plan.

George is good and I believe in FAU’s development plan, but there’s absolutely no way you can put most your eggs in those baskets with a three-peat staring you right in the face.

The more I think about it the more I believe that the Chiefs need to inject youth into their offense the way they did with their defense in 2022.

Mike Evans is 31. Sure he's been great but I think there's something to be said about adding juice from young talent. We saw it from Pacheco and Rice while the 30+ guys (Kelce/McKinnon) looked old throughout the season.