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

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BenoniBenko

Chris Jones is only getting better with age. He's a bit like Reggie White. He will still be an unstoppable force into his mid 30's. We have to re-sign him. Sneed as well.

No he isn't.

His best season was 2022. Last year wasn't as good. Next year won't be as good as this year.

That's the way age works fellas.

Jones has 2 and maybe 3 years as a damn good player but he's not 'improving with age'.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Urc Burry

The Green Bay Packers are expected to release All-Pro OT David Bakhtiari, per @TheAthletic pic.twitter.com/VJ9Jnbqkjx

— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) February 18, 2024

I’m sure he’s going to be penciled in for the jets. But that would make him a huge hypocrite for how much shit he talks on that field.

Terrible injury history. But having Wanya there who can be ready to go at least makes it intriguing. Dude is a top 5 guy when he’s out there

That guy is literally a goddamn corpse. He's not worth a roll of the dice.

[BossChief]

If we are being honest and thinking this through, the BEST result is probably tag/trade Sneed. Even though there would be a dropoff, we would get a really good return (likely a first, or a couple 2s) and I think we have the talent in that room to move everyone up a peg. Joshua Williams seems more than capable of a larger role in this defense.

I hate to say it, but I think those kind of draft resources coupled with the available cap space the trade would create could potentially give Veach the kind of ability to make this offense completely unstoppable.

[ROYC75]

Sneed was on the Up & Adams show talking about his pending FA saying, Pay Me, Pay Me, Pay Me, all the while saying he hopes to stay here.

Says he's hopefully but doubtful we can afford both him & CJ

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by O.city

Cut omenihu and use that money for Chris ?

Hell no! Omenihu is a 10 + sack guy in a full season.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Hell no! Omenihu is a 10 + sack guy in a full season.

He’s also goin to miss the whole season, his last season under contract

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Hell no! Omenihu is a 10 + sack guy in a full season.

yeah, I think I'd try an extension/re-structure with Omenihu. If you can get 2024's hit way down I think you can make it to where it's a good value deal moving forward. I think he's a good player and still young.

[O.city]

He’s not gonna want to sign an extension without playing. He wouldn’t be able to max out

[philfree]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Hell no! Omenihu is a 10 + sack guy in a full season.

He won't play a full season this season. Maybe a restructure to make some cap space.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

He’s also goin to miss the whole season, his last season under contract

Would still rather extend him for a year.

And he does have reason to do so - it'll have him in the building rehabbing instead of out there without a team. He'd essentially need a 2-year deal with any team he's looking to sign with anyway so there's no reason not to extend here.

Nobody's going to sign him to a 1 year deal coming off an ACL. He'll either sit in FA until November (again, rehabbing on his own) and take some pro-rated minimum deal. Or he can restructure via extension, get a quick signing bonus/restructure check and have a great deal of stability in his rehab without making any real sacrifice in the process.

An extension makes all the sense in the world for him. It makes a great deal of sense for us as well.

I don't see any reason why it shouldn't happen.

[O.city]

The situation for him makes sense to extend here but you also have a guy coming off an injury. It’s likely he comes back but you never know

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

He’s not gonna want to sign an extension without playing. He wouldn’t be able to max out

Not gonna be able to max out anyway. And if he gets cut, he's not going to be in a position to seek a prominent 1-year deal; he's looking at a probably zero in guarantees and likely no pay check at all until he's healthy. This is a guy who went 2nd wave of FA even coming off a career year and with a clean bill of health. He still had to settle for a 2 year deal with us.

He's not getting 3/$45 million from anyone if we cut him. He's not getting 1/$8 million either.

He's in a hell of a bind here. He should be looking to extend for a season here. He'd still be in a good position to hit big in FA after the 2025 season should he have a nice 2025 season.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Not gonna be able to max out anyway. And if he gets cut, he's not going to be in a position to seek a prominent 1-year deal; he's looking at a probably zero in guarantees and likely no pay check at all until he's healthy. This is a guy who went 2nd wave of FA even coming off a career year and with a clean bill of health. He still had to settle for a 2 year deal with us.

He's not getting 3/$45 million from anyone if we cut him. He's not getting 1/$8 million either.

He's in a hell of a bind here. He should be looking to extend for a season here. He'd still be in a good position to hit big in FA after the 2025 season should he have a nice 2025 season.

He had the suspension looming from the DV thing

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

He had the suspension looming from the DV thing

Which is quite a bit less onerous and easier to plan around than a torn ACL.

[suzzer99]

Originally Posted by BossChief

Sneed will get tagged and CJ95 will hit free agency snd KC will get him extended for a bargain because other teams saw the Super Bowl speech snd know they are being used and that CJ won’t be signing with them.

Then why wouldn't they make an offer just to drive the price up for the Chiefs?

I'm pretty sure the Jets knew they were being played by Tyreek. But they didn't care because it made Miami pay that much more in draft picks and salary.