Pros and cons of Detroit Lions trading for Kansas City Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed

The Kansas City Chiefs have placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on L’Jarius Sneed, which allows him to seek a trade.

ESPN reported over the weekend the Detroit Lions are one team “to watch” (of multiple potential suitors) when and if Sneed is dealt.

The Lions badly need a No. 1 cornerback, and they’re flush with cap space for 2024, though general manager Brad Holmes has hinted they won’t be big players in the free agent market. The Lions’ top priorities this offseason are re-signing players like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jared Goff — a deal with Alim McNeill seems less likely — and they need to firm up an offensive line that could lose both starting guards to free agency.

In Indianapolis at the NFL combine last week, the speculation among league sources was that the Lions could splurge on one free agent at a position of need on defense, either up front or in the back end, but that they wouldn’t spend big unless there was a true difference-making type to be had.

The Lions have a built a Super Bowl contender through the draft and without any hamstringing contracts, and they have more big deals to do on the horizon with Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson. Given their current track, both could get contracts that make them the highest-paid players at their position in the game.

I don’t know how motivated the Lions are to trade for Sneed. A team source in Indy downplayed the likelihood of any big moves, and they’d have to give up a high draft pick and sign Sneed to a long-term big-money contract (the franchise tag is $19.8 million) to facilitate the deal.

More: Why Detroit Lions' Brad Holmes is choosy about drafting CBs: 'Good ones are hard to find'

But I know there is a healthy respect for Sneed as a player in Allen Park and he absolutely would fill a position of need.

The pros of Lions trading for L'Jarius Sneed

Sneed, 27, is the best cornerback on the market this year (assuming Jaylon Johnson of the Chicago Bears is effectively taken off it with the franchise tag) and would immediately transform the Lions secondary. He’s productive in coverage; he had two interceptions and 14 pass deflections last season. He’s a willing run defender and capable blitzer; he played the slot before moving outside full-time in 2023. And he led the NFL in yards per target allowed (4.8) last season.

With Sneed in the fold, the Lions could use last year’s top free-agent addition Cam Sutton as their No. 2 cornerback and bring Kindle Vildor — who showed promise in a late-season cameo as starter — back for depth. Throw in three capable safeties in Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu, and the secondary has gone from a weakness to a strength.

Holmes has downplayed the one-player-away approach to roster building, believing it’s more important to have good quality depth. But the reality is adding a versatile playmaker like Sneed would improve the Lions’ Super Bowl chances without doing much to ding its depth.

Holmes was asked at the combine about following his mentor Les Snead’s approach to free agency. Snead built the Los Angeles Rams into Super Bowl contenders through the draft, then maneuvered his way to a championship with a handful of important trades.

Snead acquired key starters Matthew Stafford, Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey in trades, and added Odell Beckham Jr. as in-season free agent.

“When Les first got there in 2012, obviously he drafted for a lot of years and you’re attacking every single position (in) free agency, you’re trying to build the roster,” Holmes said. “And when me and (Lions assistant GM) Ray (Agnew, another ex-Rams executive,) got here in ’21, we had to take the same approach. But as you kind of build the roster and get more stronger in certain areas, you’re process alters a little bit because you can be a little bit more — we’ve always been strategic and selective, but you can even be more selective than you have in the past.

“We’re not quite there yet where Les and the Rams are, where he really started to be very, very, very selective there. But me and Ray were just talking about that. We are getting there. We’re getting closer.”

The cons of Lions trading for L'Jarius Sneed

The Rams paid a huge price to acquire Ramsey from the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019, giving up two first-round picks and a fourth-round choice for a cornerback considered the best in the NFL.

Sneed won’t cost that much — a second-round pick? — but he won’t come cheap, either, given the dearth of good cornerbacks on the market.

The Lions have seven picks in April’s draft, including No. 29 overall and an extra third-round choice (but no fourth-round pick) from the Minnesota Vikings in the T.J. Hockenson trade,. They have the capital to acquire Sneed. But trading away draft picks begins to eat into the tools the team has to stock its roster with good, young, affordable talent. Dealing picks will be harder and harder to do the more big contracts the Lions dole out.

From a cap standpoint, the Lions have enough room — more than $50 million — to absorb any big-money deal, and in a rising salary cap environment, Sneed’s next contract could look like a steal by 2026.

Still, the Lions have other holes to address besides cornerback this offseason. They need to re-sign or replace Jonah Jackson and Graham Glasgow. No. 3 receiver Josh Reynolds will be a free agent next week. They need to fortify their defensive line. And they’ll be in the market for a backup tight end.

And there are plenty of viable, less-expensive-to-acquire options who could suit the Lions.

More: Lions in market for 'high-end corner.' Here are 6 to watch in trades, free agency.

Other options at cornerback

So who are the other options at cornerback?

Johnson, who turns 25 in April, is the best of the bunch. He had four interceptions and allowed a paltry 50.9 passer rating against last season, according to Pro Football Reference. If the Bears don’t tag him, he’ll command one of the biggest deals in free agency, but won’t cost a draft pick to acquire.

Kendall Fuller is considered the third-best cornerback on the market. He just turned 29, so he’s on the older side for a long-term free agent commitment, and he’s coming off an up-and-down season in which he allowed a 120.4 passer rating against while playing on one of the league’s worst defenses.

Two veterans who might be more open to the type of shorter-term deal the Lions have leaned towards in free agency are Stephon Gilmore and Xavien Howard. Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year and older brother of Lions cornerback Steven Gilmore, shadowed No. 1 receivers for part of last season despite the presence of DaRon Bland in the Dallas Cowboys secondary. Howard, a three-time Pro Bowler who battled injury problems in 2023, was informed by the Miami Dolphins of his release last week.

The Lions could bring back Emmanuel Moseley, who signed a one-year free agent deal last spring but played only two regular season snaps before tearing his ACL. They could take a flier on a younger player like Kristian Fulton, who played well early in his career with the Tennessee Titans but had a disappointing and injury riddled 2023.

Or they could wait till the draft and try to add a top-end talent at the position, which might require another type of trade — a move into the top 20.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pros and cons of Detroit Lions trading for Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed