According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the Kansas City Chiefs have placed the franchise tag on cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, which might cost slightly more than $19 million for the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reports that the Chiefs have given Sneed permission to pursue a trade, allowing Kansas City to save contract space while recouping some assets in exchange for one of the league’s top cornerbacks. 
The Chiefs were considering whether to use the tag on Sneed or All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, whom the defending Super Bowl winners want to keep in 2024.
‘You’d like to be able to tag and pay all of the guys, and it’s difficult because the more you win, the more you have to pay players,’ Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Monday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. ‘And obviously, when you have this level of success, you pay players a lot of money.’
Jones would have been owed almost $32 million, a 20% increase over his 2023 salary cap number, which proved prohibitively expensive for a team anticipated to hit the limit. The deadline for using the franchise tag is March 5.
Sneed, 27, was drafted in the fourth round in 2020 and has formed one of the NFL’s most powerful secondary duos with All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. Sneed didn’t allow a touchdown catch as the nearest defender in coverage throughout the regular season, and he helped shut down Ravens’ Zay Flowers in the AFC title game.
In 57 regular-season games, he has 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended, with one pick in 13 postseason games.
The Atlanta Falcons were also said to be interested in signing Sneed as a free agent.
Meanwhile, Jones is coming off another season in which he ranked among the league’s greatest interior pass rushers, earning his second All-Pro selection and sixth Pro Bowl appearance. 
He recorded a half-sack against Miami in the wild-card round, as well as two quarterback hits on the 49ers’ Brock Purdy, which helped Kansas City rally for an overtime victory in the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs also dismissed receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Wednesday, freeing about $12 million in cap space.