NFL’s franchise-tag window opens up Tuesday — with eyes on Chris Jones, L’Jarius Sneed

The league allows players to be franchise-tagged for a two-week period.

Tuesday marks a critical date for all NFL teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs. As of February 20 at 3 p.m. Arrowhead Time, the franchise-tag window opens, meaning clubs around the league can officially designate franchise or transition players. The window remains open for two weeks, until Tuesday, March 5, at 3 p.m. Arrowhead Time.

As mentioned in Monday morning’s edition of Arrowheadlines, while defensive tackle Chris Jones can be franchise-tagged, it is unlikely he will be. ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted that Jones’ projected franchise tag is around $32 million. For those wondering, Jones’ number is so high because he made much more than what the defensive tackle tag would have paid ($19.8 million) in 2023. A 2024 tag would equate to 120% of his prior salary.

Another candidate for the franchise tag is cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who recently jokingly told Kay Adams his message to Chiefs general manager Brett Veach is, “Pay me.”

The cornerback tag is projected to cost the Chiefs somewhere around $18.8 million, but ideally, the tag would simply buy the organization time to work on a long-term extension for Sneed. If the Chiefs tag Sneed and can’t come to an agreement by March 13 — the start of the new league year — that number would be reflected on the 2024 cap.

Despite being snubbed for some individual accolades, Sneed will no doubt garner serious interest from across the NFL, as we saw with cornerback Charvarius Ward in 2022. Kansas City has long wanted to find a way to keep Sneed, but that might cost them the ability to keep Jones. Keeping both players should be regarded as rather ambitious.

The Chiefs last used the franchise on offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr. ahead of the 2022 season. No agreement was reached, Brown played on the tag, and then ultimately landed with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023.

For more on the Chiefs’ roster and cap space, check out our reference page here.