Chiefs’ current plans for L’Jarius Sneed, Chris Jones

General manager Brett Veach publicly addressed the plans for two key free agents at the NFL combine.

There is a week left until NFL teams decide whether or not to apply their franchise tag, and the Kansas City Chiefs are hard at work thinking through the best way to use it. Defensive tackle Chris Jones and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed are both unrestricted free agents this offseason.

This week, The NFL Scouting Combine gave the public an excellent opportunity to learn how the Chiefs plan to use the tag. General manager Brett Veach answered questions from reporters on Tuesday, which was followed by a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler a few hours later.

Fowler’s report comes after Veach discussed the challenge of retaining everyone — from Sneed to Jones and all of the other impact defenders.

“That’s always a stress,” Veach described of the negotiation process at this stage. “You’d like to be able to tag all the guys and pay all the guys. It’s tough because the more you win, the more you have to pay players… then it’s equally tough because you’re drafting late. There are challenges; we’ll go through them and always put our best foot forward. We’ll certainly do what we can to try and keep both of those players, and that will be our goal and intent.”

Before Fowler’s report, common sense pointed to the tag being applied to Sneed: the $19.8 million cap hit is more manageable than the number would be for Jones. The logic is still there, but the motive could be different — and Veach acknowledged the potential chaos when speaking.

“Hopefully, we’re able to figure something out, but every free agency is different, unique and crazy,” Veach recognized.

“We do have one tag, and I anticipate probably using it to help us,” Veach hinted. “Our goal is to get both of those players done, then work our way down the roster.”

Sneed has been the headline today, but the news may only strengthen the idea that Jones will be retained — and that he is the No. 1 priority for Kansas City this signing cycle.

“He’s at the top of the list,” Veach said of Jones. “We love Chris. We tried really hard to get something done, and we didn’t. When we got together right after that Detroit game, we had a great talk. I think both parties want to be here, so we’ll get to work. That’s certainly a guy we want back and love. We want to see him finish his career in Kansas City.”

If there is any optimism that both players could stay with the organization that drafted them, it will take incredibly creative contract structuring. The Chiefs have always excelled with that but may not have the same ability to this offseason.

The Carolina Panthers hired former Chiefs’ front office member Brandt Tilis into their personnel department. Veach was direct about Tilis’s importance to the Chiefs’ team building in this championship window.

“Brandt is amazing, we’re certainly going to miss Brandt,” Veach told reporters. “Congratulations to him and his family, to the Panthers for that hire there.

“The key in this league is getting a quarterback. Then, once you get him, it’s securing him long-term and having the ability to do things within the contract to allow and provide flexibility. Brandt got on top of that early; he has a tremendous relationship with the agent community, does a great job and is super smart.

“We have some big shoes to fill,” Veach continued. “(Vice President of Football Operations) Chris Shea and (Football Administration Coordinator) Jack Walov will do a great job, but again, Brandt was on top of that Mahomes contract early and did a great job of guiding the organization through that.”

This will be one of the most challenging offseasons for Veach yet. With a chance at history next season, he will feel pressure to keep this team as talented as possible — without the help from Tilis maneuvering cap room.

That may result in trading a cornerstone like Sneed away, but Veach has earned the benefit of the doubt in his ability to fill the roster with draft capital.