The Tennessee Titans' 2026 spending spree in free agency was both to improve Robert Saleh's roster in his debut season and a result of the dearth of talent this team was handed in the Ran Carthon era. One such mistake was cornerback L'Jarius Sneed.
Two years after agreeing to a four-year, $76 million contract that made the former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback one of the highest-paid defensive players the game has ever seen, Sneed has now found himself in need of a job. The latest Carthon casualty was released after just two seasons.
The Sneed contract was a brutal exercise in Murphy's Law for this franchise, as even those who disliked the signing will have to admit that no one saw Sneed getting hurt this much or playing this badly when he was billed as someone who could lead a major change on the defensive side of the ball.
Titans part ways with L'Jarius Sneed after two seasons
When healthy, Sneed occasionally showed the same heights that made him a dominant player in Kansas City, but he was at 100% so infrequently. After signing him to that big contract, Sneed appeared in just 12 games over two seasons. No matter how good he was, that lack of availability was a killer.
Sneed was dead last among 117 cornerbacks in Pro Football Focus grade in 2024, one year after ranking 35th in the league in Kansas City. While he improved those numbers to 105th out of 114 corners last year, it's hard to call his time in Tennessee anything other than a colossal failure.
The Titans wasted no time moving on. In their 2026 offseason spending spree, Tennessee not only got a new outside cornerback in Cordale Flott via a three-year contract, but they also gave Alontae Taylor a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid young DBs in the game.
Sneed may need to go to a team that is extremely patient with regard to letting him get back on track. If not, his legacy will be that of both a scheme-specific player who only thrived under Steve Spagnuolo and one of the worst contracts handed out in NFL history.