The Pittsburgh Steelers have to clear a lot of cap space this offseason. While they stand at about $5 million over the cap right now, they need to clear room out even to make some moves. But they likely have enough space and wiggle room to land one major contributor for the team. Could that be Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed? Sneed is a franchise tag candidate, but might not be tagged with Chris Jones’ contract coming up for the Chiefs.
Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger released his contract projections that have proven to be quite accurate in recent years. And he believes a realistic contract for Sneed would be around $17.5 million per year over three seasons with about two years of that being guaranteed at $35 million.
“Sneed was a fixture out wide in 2023 after lining up primarily in the slot over his first three seasons, and he held up quite well in several tough matchups. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo asks a lot of his cornerbacks, and Sneed is sticky in coverage, getting into receivers’ hip pockets and becoming very hard to shake with lateral movement or in the air at the catch point. Sneed could stand to cut down on penalties, but his aggressive nature would be welcome on many teams, and his inside-outside versatility is a nice benefit, as well,” Spielberger wrote.
With the franchise tag for cornerback falling between $19 and $20 million this offseason, Sneed could be a prime candidate for the franchise tag, as mentioned earlier, if things go south with Jones. But what does Sneed want to do? He caught up with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and stated that he wants to say in Kansas City.
“I would love to be back,” Sneed said. “I don’t want to go anywhere. It’s part of the business…I put my best foot forward the entire year. It’s all in the mind. Block it out, play ball.”
Sneed has become one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks over the last two seasons, and now, he has a chance to hit free agency for a massive payday. Two weeks ago, Pro Football Focus named the Steelers as one of the top landing spot for Sneed.
“Sneed was a fixture out wide in 2023 after lining up primarily in the slot over his first three seasons, and he held up quite well in several tough matchups,” PFF wrote. “Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo asks a lot of his cornerbacks, and Sneed is sticky in coverage, getting into receivers’ hip pockets and becoming very hard to shake with lateral movement or in the air at the catch point.”
Whether the Steelers would want to make this big of a move remains up in the air, but it certainly would make sense to fortify the cornerback room with two top cornerbacks.
