Over the last few years in New England, the Patriots have been consistently linked to some of the top players available for trade. Whether it was by their own doing or the team wanted to move on, big-name players have been on the move. Because the Patriots have long needed star power, they were inevitably on the shortlist of teams interested.
Among the most recent potential trade targets was cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who would’ve been an excellent addition to the Patriots’ secondary alongside Christian Gonzalez. The former fourth-round pick had made a name for himself with the Chiefs, but after some sort of dispute, they were willing to trade him during the 2024 offseason, which immediately put him on the Patriots’ radar.
Sneed was reportedly a player the Patriots were looking into, but he was instead traded to the Titans and immediately given a massive four-year, $76.4 million contract with $51.5 million guaranteed, which they now look like geniuses for having avoided.
The Patriots made a good deal by not trading for L’Jarius Sneed without even knowing it
Although you can never have too many star players, the Patriots missing out on Sneed doesn’t look as brutal as it once did. Besides not having to dish out a boatload of money to a player at a position that didn’t need a ton of upgrading, Sneed hasn’t shown to be the player he once was so far in his Tennessee tenure.
The Titans’ head coach, Brian Callahan, said as much at the start of mandatory minicamp earlier this month, stating, “We’re waiting for him to show us the player that he’s been. He hasn’t reached that level of play for us.”
That led Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox to name Sneed’s contract among the worst in the league going into the 2025 season, something the Patriots can be thankful they missed out on.
“It was odd to see Tennessee immediately give a 27-year-old corner who had never been to a Pro Bowl a deal worth $19.1 million annually—which has him as the league’s 11th-highest-paid cornerback a year later.
Players surrounded by talent in a championship-caliber defense don’t always replicate their success in a new home, and that’s how things are trending with Sneed. Pro Football Focus graded him 212th overall among 222 cornerbacks for the 2024 season, a campaign that was cut short after five games by a quad injury. He’s missed time this offseason with a knee injury.”
The Patriots might have had the money over the last two years to afford a contract of Sneed’s nature, but that doesn’t mean they should have taken the risk on a player who wanted a massive payday like that right away, only to go on to underperform and suffer an injury.
Fortunately, they lucked out with Carlton Davis heading to free agency, allowing them to sign him, in addition to a deep cornerback roster to evaluate this summer and determine who will be the best players to back up him and Gonzalez this season. And hopefully, the hefty contracts they did award players this offseason won’t land them on a list like this next year or anytime in the near future.
