Chiefs use nonexclusive franchise tag on CB L'Jarius Sneed - ESPN

The Kansas City Chiefs officially placed the nonexclusive franchise tag on cornerback L'Jarius Sneed on Monday.

The nonexclusive tag allows Sneed to talk to other teams, who then could work out a trade with the Chiefs. A source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler last week that the Chiefs had informed Sneed they were preparing to place the tag on him and were open to consummating a trade.

Pending league approval, a new contract for Sneed, a free agent, could be worked out as part of a trade to kick in at the start of the new league year, which begins next Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. The source stressed to Fowler that a trade is very much on the table.

The deadline for teams to use the franchise tag on pending free agents is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.

In 2023, Sneed had by many measures his best season since he joined the Chiefs as a fourth-round draft pick in 2020. Sneed covered the opponents' top receiver on at least 65% of the snaps a league-high seven times during the regular season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats data.

Only once was any of those receivers able to catch more than two passes. Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders had five catches for 73 yards on seven targets against Sneed in a Week 12 game.

Sneed, 27, didn't allow a touchdown catch as the nearest defender in coverage all season until the Chiefs' divisional round playoff win over the Buffalo Bills.

In the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sneed lined up against Zay Flowers 21 times. Sneed allowed one catch for 54 yards, but later in the game made one of the biggest plays of the game by knocking the ball from Flowers just before he crossed the goal line. The Chiefs recovered the fumble in the end zone.

In 57 regular-season games, Sneed has 10