It appears at least one of the Chiefs’ top defensive free agents will be sticking around for the team’s threepeat bid. Brett Veach said (via NFL.com’s James Palmer) he anticipates using the franchise tag this year.

This prediction stands to affect Chris Jones or L’Jarius Sneed, but it probably will pertain to the younger defender. While Veach said (via AtoZsports.com’s Charles Goldman) Jones remains the team’s top priority, tagging the perennial All-Pro will be prohibitive due to the team having cuffed him back in 2020. This points to Sneed being kept off this year’s market.

[RELATED: 2024 NFL Franchise Tag Candidates]

Although last week’s news regarding the salary cap will make Sneed more expensive to tag, it will still be more than $12MM cheaper for the two-time reigning champions to keep the four-year corner off the market compared to the eight-year DT. A Sneed tag will cost $19.8MM for the Chiefs, who will need to create cap space to make this move. As of Tuesday, the Chiefs hold just more than $16MM in cap room.

Showcasing the ability to play outside and in the slot over the course of his four-year career, Sneed delivered an impact contract year. Regularly covering No. 1 wide receivers and allowing just a 56.2 passer rating as the closest defender, the former fourth-round pick was indispensable for a suddenly defense-powered Chiefs team. This did not garner Sneed an All-Pro nod or a Pro Bowl honor, to the surprise of many, but he has now started for two Super Bowl-winning teams and been a regular defender in three Super Bowls.

If the Chiefs were to let Sneed hit the market, it is possible they would need to authorize a record-setting cornerback contract — based on the cap jumping to $255.4MM and the number of teams needing CB help — to retain him. The tag number now nearly matches Jaire Alexander‘s AAV ($21MM) that still sets the bar at this position. With the Bears likely to tag Jaylon Johnson, Sneed would move into position as the top corner available if permitted to reach the market. That appears unlikely to commence. This would represent a deviation for the Chiefs, who have not placed a high priority on paying corners under Andy Reid. The team has passed on doling out second contracts to Marcus Peters, Steven Nelson, Kendall Fuller and Charvarius Ward. Sneed appears set to be an exception.

A near-$20MM Sneed cap hold will turn up the heat on the Chiefs regarding Jones, who can begin speaking with other teams March 11 — when the legal tampering period begins. Though, the Combine regularly serves as a preview for what is out there for big-name free agents. Due to the 2020 tag, it would cost the Chiefs more than $32MM to tag their top defender.

Jones and the Chiefs could not come to terms on an extension last summer, leading to the likely Hall of Famer holding out into Week 1. An incentive package — and the threat of more missed game checks — brought Jones back, and he again played the lead role on Kansas City’s defense. Jones has said he wants to stay, but the sides are running out of time.

Considering the fines Jones incurred by missing practices and then Week 1, it would surprise if he did not see what was out there by testing the market. But the Chiefs will certainly try to prevent that from happening. The team aimed to extend Jones on a deal more in line with the younger crop of DTs that formed a new second tier at the position last summer, but Jones — who played out a four-year, $80MM extension last season — aimed for a deal closer to Aaron Donald‘s $31.7MM-AAV pact. After another dominant season (and the cap’s rise), the 29-year-old star will be in strong position to score a near-Donald-level accord soon.

FEBRUARY 16: The Chiefs have officially “picked up the option on” Jones’ contract, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. As mentioned below, the move was expected, as it allows Kansas City the option to franchise tag Jones moving forward. The move also pays out $4.25MM of incentives that Jones earned over the 2023 NFL season.

Tagging Jones still doesn’t appear to be the preferred route after he was previously tagged in 2020, and should the team choose not to exercise that option, Jones will be set to test free agency.

FEBRUARY 15: Chris Jones is currently slated to be one of the top defenders in the 2024 free agent class. Kansas City is aiming to retain him, however, and the desire for a new deal appears to be mutual.

When speaking at the team’s Super Bowl parade, Jones made it clear he intends to remain with the Chiefs for the foreseeable future (video link). His remarks carry less weight than tangible progress in contract talks, of course, but they point to a continued path existing for a new deal to be worked out. Finalizing an agreement is among the team’s top priorities, something head coach Andy Reid has confirmed.

“Yeah, listen, I think [general manager Brett] Veach has said it before — we’d love to have him back,” Reid said on Wednesday (video link). “They’ve just got to work all that out. But I think the effort will be there probably on both parts to try to get something done.”

Jones’ contract holdout left him out of the lineup for Week 1 of the 2023 season as he attempted to land a long-term deal at or near the level of Aaron Donald in terms of compensation. The Chiefs aimed for a lower AAV, and the parties ultimately reached a one-year agreement which left a franchise tag as an option for 2024. Such a move would come as a surprise, though, since it would cost more than $32MM due to Jones previously being tagged in 2020.

Talks with Jones on a deal which would provide multi-year clarity will, of course, be complicated by the fact L’Jarius Sneed is also set to reach the open market. The latter has proven himself to be a key member of one of the league’s best cornerback tandems while playing alongside 2022 first-rounder Trent McDuffie. Sneed could command a lucrative long-term pact with the Chiefs or another team if he were to reach free agency, but Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda notes the franchise tag could be in play in his case. The CB tag is slated to cost roughly $18.4MM in 2024, but Pauline writes there was chatter at the Senior Bowl Kansas City could use it to at least buy time to continue contract talks.

The Chiefs are currently mid-pack in terms of projected cap space, though new much of the team’s available resources will be needed to re-sign Jones and/or Sneed. Cost-shedding moves will take place in Kansas City in the near future, but the offseason will be defined in large part by the progress of talks with the two defensive stalwarts.

Beginning this season with Chris Jones holding out, the Chiefs found a bridge solution by providing incentives for the disgruntled defensive tackle. The sides will need to revisit the situation soon, and Kansas City’s secondary may require more attention than the team previously expected.

Jones and L’Jarius Sneed have one game remaining on their current contracts. Both standouts will be free to speak with other teams if unsigned by the start of the legal tampering period, which begins March 11. Jones will be gunning for a deal north of $30MM per year, and it will be interesting to see what kind of offers come in if/once he hits the open market. Sneed is playing out a banner contract year, and a longstanding Chiefs precedent would point to the fourth-year corner leaving in free agency. Before serious negotiations commence, the Chiefs want both players back.

“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,” GM Brett Veach said, via ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher. “Certainly, Chris and LJ are at the top of the list. It’s extremely hard because you have two keystone players there.”

The Chiefs spent months negotiating with Jones during the 2023 offseason, reaching no long-term resolution. The team attempted to fit Jones in around the D-tackle salary tier created by younger, less accomplished players. Between March and July, four young DTs — Daron Payne, Jeffery Simmons, Dexter Lawrence, Quinnen Williams — created a second salary tier of sorts at the position, signing extensions that averaged between $22.5-$24MM. But Jones has played closer to the Aaron Donald level in recent years, arguably leapfrogging the all-time great as a pass rusher over the past two seasons. Jones, 29, sought a deal closer to the Donald number.

The Rams gave Donald what has been an outlier contract at the position — $31.7MM per year — in June 2022, and with Jones barely a month from free agency, he can soon see if teams will value him at or near that level. Donald used the threat of retirement to score a landmark Rams agreement, which featured no new years added to his previous contract. The open market figures to arm Jones with sufficient leverage, and Nick Bosa‘s subsequent $34MM-per-year pact stands to help. The former second-round pick entered this season as the NFL’s ninth-highest-paid D-tackle. Jones picked up his second straight first-team All-Pro honor this season, continuing to spearhead the Chiefs’ pass rush.

Kansas City is running out of time with Jones, who will cost north of $32MM to tag due to being tagged back in 2020. The 120% rule would make Jones’ 2024 tag price north of the standard DT figure. While Jones has said he would be open to staying, he has also recently acknowledged he could be in his final weeks as a Chief. Lacking steady edge rush options for most of Jones’ tenure, the Chiefs have relied on their interior pressure artist.

Preliminary Sneed talks also took place last year. Like Jaylon Johnson in Chicago, the contract-year cornerback has made quite a bit of money over the past few months. Regularly matched with No. 1 wide receivers, Sneed has produced coverage metrics that rival Johnson’s. While not named to the All-Pro teams or the Pro Bowl, Sneed has allowed a 51% completion rate as the closest defender and merely a 56.2 passer rating. Coverage metrics are far from perfect at this point in time, but Sneed has been one of the NFL’s best corners. His walk-year work represents a big reason why the Chiefs — and what has been an inconsistent offense, despite Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce‘s presences — are back in the Super Bowl.

Johnson is on track to be tagged, which would be the NFL’s first cornerback franchise tag since 2017 (Trumaine Johnson). Sneed would make more sense as a tag candidate for the Chiefs, with Jones’ franchise tender number so high.

It would cost the Chiefs just more than $18MM to tag Sneed. Then again, this franchise has regularly avoided paying corners under Andy Reid. Since trading Marcus Peters in 2018, the Chiefs let Steven Nelson, Kendall Fuller and Charvarius Ward collect their money elsewhere. While Sneed has been indispensable this season, the team does have 2022 first-rounder Trent McDuffie — a first-team All-Pro — in place on a rookie deal through at least 2025.

Kansas City will be connected to wide receiver upgrades, and despite that lingering issue set to bleed into the offseason, the Jones and Sneed matters stand as the team’s top priorities entering Veach’s eighth year as GM. At $24MM-plus (before restructures), the Chiefs sit in the middle of the pack for cap space.

For most of Andy Reid‘s tenure, the Chiefs have not made cornerback a notable part of their budget. Rookie-contract players have staffed this position for the AFC West kingpins. This has led to a handful of Kansas City corner regulars finding their paydays elsewhere over the past several years.

The team is interested in making an exception for L’Jarius Sneed. Seeing the former fourth-round pick turn into a versatile performer during his rookie contract, the Chiefs have discussed an extension with the contract-year cover man, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes.

This marks two defenders the Chiefs have talked an extension with this year. While the Chris Jones discussions memorably did not produce a post-2023 resolution, the All-Pro defensive tackle is still open to staying in Kansas City after his current contract expires. Though, the Chiefs will likely need to outbid opposition on the market. Jones cannot realistically be franchise-tagged, unless the Chiefs are willing to cuff him at a tag number north of $32MM (due to the team tagging him in 2020). That may well direct him to the market, where a windfall would await.

Sneed’s situation is a bit simpler, with the prospect of a franchise tag in play. Like the Jones talks, no contract agreement has emerged. The sides appear fine with the player finishing out the season on his rookie deal and reassessing from there, Fowler adds. The Chiefs have exclusive Sneed negotiating rights until the 2024 legal tampering period, but the team has made sacrifices at this position during most of Reid’s tenure. No team has tagged a corner since the Rams cuffed Trumaine Johnson in 2017.

Kansas City has used two first-round picks on corners under Reid, drafting Marcus Peters in 2015 and Trent McDuffie last year, but they have opted to allocate free agency and extension dollars to other positions. The Chiefs did give Sean Smith a three-year, $16.5MM contract in Reid’s first offseason. Since, the team has found low-cost corners. Kansas City traded Peters in 2018, and while they found a gem in Charvarius Ward in a late-summer trade that year, the team let him walk (to the 49ers) during the 2022 free agency period. That came after the Chiefs let Steven Nelson defect to the Steelers in 2019 and allowed Kendall Fuller — obtained in the 2018 Alex Smith trade — return to Washington in 2020.

The Chiefs have relied on the Jones-Patrick Mahomes–Travis Kelce trio as cornerstones for many years, but with Jones nearing free agency and Kelce in his age-34 season, this foundation may need new Mahomes sidekicks in the not-too-distant future. The team has two 2021 draftees — second-rounders Nick Bolton and Creed Humphrey — it will almost definitely be interested in extending as well, with guard Trey Smith also extension-eligible next year. Jones re-upping on a monster third contract will also affect the Chiefs’ budget, as they agreed on a reworked Mahomes deal in September.

While the Chiefs’ history points Sneed to the market, the 2020 fourth-rounder has been pivotal to the team’s improved defense this season. The Chiefs rank second in scoring defense this year, with that unit — Mahomes and Kelce’s superstar statuses notwithstanding — powering the 7-2 team in the campaign’s first half. Pro Football Focus only has Sneed ranked 83rd among corners this season, after slotting him in the top 15 in 2022. The 6-foot-1 defender has still shown the ability to play outside and in the slot over the past four seasons, and his passer rating as the closest defender in coverage (59.1) is much lower compared to last season (84.2).

Regarding Jones, the Chiefs will probably need to authorize a payment they were not comfortable with this year in order to keep him. Early rumblings point to Jones being able to command close to $30MM per year, according to Fowler. Jones angled for money in the Aaron Donald neighborhood this summer and waged a holdout that cost him more than $2MM in an effort to secure such a contract. The Chiefs did not budge, and they lost their opener as Jones watched from an Arrowhead Stadium suite. Jones returned for an incentive package aimed to help him recoup some losses, but he is poised to be a top-tier free agent in March. Nick Bosa raising the defender ceiling to $34MM per year, after Donald’s $31.7MM number previously held that top spot, will not help the Chiefs on the Jones front.

The Chiefs wanted to re-up Jones on a deal closer to the newly formed second-tier D-tackle market. The Commanders (Daron Payne), Giants (Dexter Lawrence), Titans (Jeffery Simmons) and Jets (Quinnen Williams) each signed for AAVs between $22.5MM and $24MM. Jones, who turned 29 this season, has accomplished more than this lot and pushed for Donald-level dough. It will be interesting to see how high the price goes should he reach the open market.