The Kansas City Chiefs are running it back with L’Jarius Sneed this season after two years apart, and the former fourth-round cornerback has some very explicit goals as he returns to the franchise that drafted him in 2020.
Sneed played in 57 games, starting 54 of them, across four seasons in Kansas City. Though he never made a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro team, Sneed amassed 303 tackles, including 19 tackles for loss, 40 pass breakups, 10 interceptions, 6.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
His work earned him a four-year deal from Tennessee worth a total of $76.4 million. However, two injury-plagued seasons and just 12 appearances/starts later, the Titans cut ties with Sneed in March in order to save $11.4 million against the salary cap.
Now at 29 years old, Snead inked a league minimum deal of $1.215 million to rejoin the Chiefs (on top of the $3 million Tennessee must pay him in 2026) and will return to his origins in hopes of reclaiming his identity and putting his mark back on the NFL in what will be his seventh professional season.
“Reclaim who I am,” Sneed told KTLA News of his intentions in 2026.
“Not to prove anything, but to show people I am who I was,” he continued.
L’Jarius Sneed Thrived Under Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
GettyKansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Health was obviously Sneed’s most significant concern with the Titans, but his level of play when he was on the field was also several steps behind his performance in Kansas City.
Snead finished ranked 104th out of 114 qualifying cornerbacks in 2025 and was dead last out of 117 qualifying CBs in 2024, based on Pro Football Focus grades. However, he finished inside the top 20 twice and the top half of CBs every year during his first four campaigns with the Chiefs.
One difference is that Sneed was younger. Another is that he was healthier. A third is that he played on a better team. But perhaps the most meaningful factor was defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Spagnuolo was the DC in all four of Sneed’s campaigns in Kansas City and remains in that job in 2026. The hope is that Sneed can regain his old form after returning to a place he is comfortable and has had success, where the same DC is in place and the same head coach (Andy Reid) continues shepherding the sideline.
Chiefs Invested Top-10 Pick in Cornerback Mansoor Delane
GettyKansas City Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane.
The Chiefs’ 2025 cornerback room migrated to the NFC West, specifically the Los Angeles Rams, where Jaylen Watson landed via free agency and Trent McDuffie by way of a trade before that.
Sneed’s return is part of Kansas City’s strategy to put the secondary back together, as was trading up in the first round of the draft to select former LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.
“The Chiefs are confident Delane can be a star defender,” Nate Taylor of ESPN wrote in April. “If anyone can develop a young defensive back, it’s longtime coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who has helped plenty of players … improve during their rookie contracts.”
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