Chiefs depth chart after L’Jarius Sneed trade

The longer this was drawn out, the more likely it was bound to happen. After being slapped with the franchise tag by the Kansas City Chiefs, star cornerback L'Jarius Sneed was later dealt to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick swap. The Titans may have had a down year, but they have had one of the better free agencies across the NFL.

As for the Chiefs, they will have to pick up the pieces once again. For as long as they keep winning and winning prolifically, more and more of their good players are going to be poached by other franchises, especially if they are underpaid or due for big money. We saw Tyreek Hill go to the Miami Dolphins a few years ago. Now that Chris Jones got his mega-extension, the cost of the deal was moving on from Sneed.

The good news for Chiefs Kingdom is general manager Brett Veach has drafted extraordinarily well over the years. He has a plethora of young, emerging stars on defense, including George Karlaftis in the trenches and Trent McDuffie in the defensive backfield. McDuffie, along with savvy veteran Justin Reid, will need to make the most of their opportunities in Steve Spagnuolo's Kansas City defense.

The Titans never gave up, as they kept pushing and pushing until they were the ones landing Sneed.

Let's take a look at the updated Kansas City depth chart after the Sneed trade with Tennessee.

Kansas City Chiefs DB depth chart after the L'Jarius Sneed trade

Here is the Chiefs' depth chart for all five of their defensive back positions, courtesy of OurLads.

• LCB: Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson, Kelvin Joseph
• SS: Justin Reid, Chamarri Conner, Tyree Gillespie
• FS: Bryan Cook, Deon Bush, Trey Dean
• RCB: Jaylen Watson, Ekow Boye-Doe, Keith Taylor
• NCB: Trent McDuffie, Nic Jones

For the rabid legions of Chiefs Kingdom, you know every single one of these defensive backs like the back of your hand. As for the rest of us, there are only a few names that stand out: McDuffie, Reid and maybe Jaylen Watson.

While it isn't the worst thing in the world, you can sense some cracks in the foundation on the Chiefs' quest at a three-peat. This league is so hard and unforgiving...

The best thing the Chiefs have going for them is Patrick Mahomes is still the best quarterback on the planet. There are other good ones, but No. 15 is a complete and total difference-maker on his side of the ball. While Kansas City should be thanking its lucky stars for as long as Reid wants to be their head coach, the next best thing is to continue to read from the Book of Veach for elite team building.

I would expect that the Chiefs will make a few more plays in the latter part of free agency. I would also expect that they will do their homework and draft a high-quality defensive back somewhere in the first four rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Veach finds value at all levels of the draft. If the guy played at a traditional power in a Power Four league, then you best believe that Veach will bring him over to K.C.

The Sneed trade happened late very on Friday night, so give the Chiefs some time to counterbalance.