The Tennessee Titans have traded for two-time Super Bowl champion cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, the top cornerback on the market, who was reportedly connected to the Pittsburgh Steelers at some points this offseason.
The Titans traded just a 2025 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Sneed, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN. The Chiefs had used the franchise tag on Sneed earlier this offseason, but did not want him to play under the tag, preferring to work out a long-term contract extension or trade him.
The asking price on Sneed had reportedly been a 2024 second-round pick, but he ended up fetching far less than that. He will head to Tennessee under the franchise tender, a one-year, $19.8 million contract, though the Titans will likely attempt to extend him to a long-term deal. They have until July to make such a move.
Pro Football Focus expects he will get $17.5 million a year to come in at around three years, $52.5 million with $35 million of that guaranteed.
“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.
Nick Farabaugh of Steelers Now reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the teams that reached out to the Chiefs about acquiring Sneed, but the Steelers ended up getting cornerback Donte Jackson in their trade that sent wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, seemingly taking them out of the Sneed sweepstakes.
In addition to acquiring Sneed, the Titans also signed free agent cornerback Chidobe Awuzie from the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency this offseason, revamping their cornerback position.