The Kansas City Chiefs freed up significant cap space after trading star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans late Friday night.
Already one of the most gifted rosters in the NFL, general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs are now armed with an additional $19.8 million in cap space this offseason and have ascended to the eighth-most spending flexibility in the league.
Veach is never one to rest on laurels or conserve cap space, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Kansas City Chiefs come out swinging and add a potential key contributor to the franchise’s run at a third consecutive Super Bowl championship in 2024.
Here are three potential targets for the Chiefs after trading away Sneed.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Top Remaining Free Agent Targets
CB – Xavien Howard
Xavien Howard remains the premier cornerback available and seems to be set on chasing a Super Bowl ring.
“I think whichever team is smart enough to sign Xavien Howard and put him on an island will end up being a playoff team or Super Bowl contender,” a league source recently told me.
Howard was released before the new league year began as a cap casualty by the Miami Dolphins but remains an effective player at a premium position. Last season, Howard held opposing quarterbacks to a meager 86.7 passer rating when targeting him as he kept receivers to just 11.4 yards per reception against him.
Pairing Howard opposite ascending talent Trent McDuffie could form one of the league’s more daunting and stingy cornerback duos.
S – Justin Simmons
There might not be a more gifted free agent available, who would fill one of the Chiefs’ few glaring weaknesses than All-Pro safety Justin Simmons.
Simmons is the type of player who’s equally dominant in deep coverage as he is throwing his weight around near the line of scrimmage in run support. Last season, Simmons pulled down three interceptions and produced one sack as a virtual Swiss-Army Knife in the Broncos’ secondary.
Adding versatile veteran experience into the secondary, Simmons could be an upgrade over Justin Reid and the caliber of player who can be a legitimate difference-maker in the secondary.
WR – Odell Beckham Jr.
Even after the Kansas City Chiefs signed Marquise “Hollywood Brown,” the wide receiving corps is far from a finished product.
While Beckham Jr. was not the same player in Baltimore that he proved to be as a key piece to the Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl run in 2021, he still has a big-play upside and would be two years removed from a torn ACL.
Last season, Beckham Jr. still averaged a whopping 16.1 yards per reception on his 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns. The opportunity to play with Patrick Mahomes and chase a second Super Bowl ring has to be alluring to the 31-year-old.
The Dolphins have shown significant interest in Beckham in recent days, and the Chiefs prying him from the grips of an AFC contender would be an added benefit to adding him into Patrick Mahomes’ receiving corps that already includes Brown and young playmaker Rashee Rice.
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