KC Chiefs GM Brett Veach on Chris Jones and L'Jarius Sneed Contracts, Franchise Tag
The first major offseason event is here, with teams and players arriving in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. The Kansas City Chiefs are on official business getting a firsthand look at the 2024 NFL Draft class, but there's also plenty else to sort out as workouts begin later this week.
For general manager Brett Veach, his top two priorities likely reside on the defensive side of the football. All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and star cornerback L'Jarius Sneed are pending free agents, needing new contracts or a franchise tag application to return for 2024-25. A departure would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the team's chances of repeating again as world champions.
Jones himself is no stranger to negotiations. Just a year ago, his camp and the Chiefs were navigating whether he'd have a long-term contract with the team. After a holdout, a new one-year deal kept him in line to recoup some lost fine money and play out the season. Now set to enter free agency, the pressure is mounting for both sides.
Veach, speaking at the Combine on Tuesday, doubled down on his desire to have Jones retire a Chief.
"I mean, just like last year... with Chris, with LJ, with a lot of our players, we get a chance to meet the agents this week, and he's at the top of the list," Veach said. "Love Chris — we tried really hard to get something done and we didn't but when we got together right after that Detroit game, we had a great talk and both parties, I think, want to be here. We'll get to work, and that's certainly a guy we want back and love and want to see him finishing his career here in Kansas City."
As great as winning is, it comes at a cost (both literally and figuratively). Veach hinted at that during his media address, saying he'd like to maintain every player getting paid and keep the band together. There's a lot of stress wrapped up in his job, even once the season is over. One could argue that February through July or early August is when the real challenges creep up.
Veach used that exact term — challenge — when describing the difficulty of maneuvering with precision. He has until March 5 to franchise tag Jones (estimated at just over $32 million) or Sneed ($19.8M) if he chooses. Doing so would extend the negotiation timeline and prevent free agency for that designated player. According to Veach, that's an avenue he can see Kansas City taking.
"There's challenges," Veach said. "We'll go through them and we'll always put our best foot forward. We certainly want to do what we can to try to keep both of those players, and that's going to be our goal and intent. Hopefully we're able to figure something out, but every free agency is different, unique and crazy. We do have one tag, and I anticipate probably using it to help us, but I think our goal is to try to get both of those players done and then work down the rest of our roster."
Last year, Jones reportedly desired a contract that would make him at least the second-highest-paid interior defensive lineman in all of football. With the 2024 salary cap number coming in higher than expected, that's almost certainly still the case. As he enters his age-30 season, he'll be seeking financial security for the future and compensation for what he's accomplished as of late. Having consecutive All-Pro seasons certainly doesn't hurt.
Sneed, on the other hand, is coming off the final year of his rookie contract. He hasn't seen big-time NFL money yet, although that isn't stopping him from letting Veach know he wants to be paid. Sneed's combination of age (27) and a lower tag value than Jones makes him a possible candidate to see the tag used on him, thus giving his camp and the Chiefs until mid-July to work something out. If either player hits the open market, offers should be competitive. With a critical couple of weeks ahead of him, Veach is confident that Kansas City benefits if they can come close.
"I think if you get close in negotiations, I think you get the added benefit of the ties [going] to the Chiefs," Veach said. "Because I think if all things were equal, it is a money deal at the end of the day and people aren't going to turn down a huge discrepancy in contracts, but I think we get the benefit of breaking all ties. So I think that's a huge benefit and on the flip side, there's a lot of stress and a lot of anxiety in every offseason because you have small windows and you don't have the ability to make a ton of mistakes. Your margin for error is razor-thin, so you've got to be good on your draft picks and you've got to be good on your free agency guys that come in here. They have to play and they have to produce right away because you don't have a ton in regards to excess picks or excess money, so you've got to be efficient with what you have."
