Tennessee Titans missing two starters vs the Minnesota Vikings

Want more good news? On one side, the Vikings’ 53-man roster is healthier than it has been all season. The same cannot be said for the Titans, who are entering this game banged up. And unfortunately for fans in Tennessee, the injury situation didn’t get any better on Friday, when head coach Brian Callahan told reporters that starting OT LeRoy Watson (back) and “star” CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad) will not be able to play on Sunday.

Per @Titans HC Brian Callahan, starting RT Leroy Watson and star CB L’Jarius Sneed will be OUT against the @Vikings on Sunday.
pic.twitter.com/GCmNpn4UF7

— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) November 15, 2024

Tennessee is dealing with a lot of injuries, but they are especially banged up in the secondary. Defensive back, Justin Hardee (groin), is also on Friday’s injury report as “Questionable”. CB Roger McCreary is a full go, but he was limited in practice on Wednesday and Friday with a knee injury.

Related: 4 Bold Predictions for Minnesota Vikings’ Week 11 Matchup vs Titans

How much will the Tennessee Titans miss all of their injured players? Well, missing your starting right tackle can’t be a good thing, and losing a superstar cornerback has to hurt. But if you look at the statistics and PFF grades of each player, you might wonder.

Will Titans miss their starters that much?

Leroy Watson only has four career starts in the NFL and they have all come in the last four weeks. So, the 2022 undrafted free agent’s 5 false starts, 7 total penalties, and 50.3 PFF grade isn’t a huge surprise. CB L’Jarius Sneed, on the other hand, has seen a mysterious drop in production, during his first season with the Titans.

The 27-year-old has given up 11.9 yards per reception. Most alarming, for those who put any stock in Pro Football Focus, is his drop in PFF grade this season. Sneed’s 36.3 defensive grade and 36.8 coverage grade are half of what they were his last two seasons in Kansas City, where he gained reputation as one of the best corners in football.

Report: JJ McCarthy Injury Setback is More Concerning Than Vikings are Leading On

Sneed’s week on the injured list coincides with an Instagram post, from Tuesday, where he seemed to suggest he is unhappy with the Titans, and misses playing for the Chiefs, who are 9-0 on the season.

#TITANS STAR DB L’JARIUS SNEED JUST POSTED THIS… and deleted it.

👀👀👀

It appears he is UNHAPPY… pic.twitter.com/DIFYN48BMQ

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) November 12, 2024

In other words, the Titans will miss their injured starters, just like any team would. But Tennessee has been bad all year, no matter who they have put on the field. That is why they are 2-7. If the Minnesota Vikings want to be a serious NFC contender, they will destroy the Titans on Sunday.

Sneed had already received the franchise tag, valued at $19.8 million, and was seeking a long-term extension. Plus, the Vikings would also have to part with more valuable draft capital, which may be needed to secure their future franchise quarterback.

Yet, somehow, the Vikings were actually involved in the Sneed trade discussions and were even reportedly one of the finalists. We also reported on Darren Wolfson’s nugget that Sneed would have “loved” to play for the Vikings.

Of course, the Sneed trade never materialized. Not for the Vikings, anyway.

The Chiefs traded Sneed to the Tennessee Titans for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2024 seventh-round pick swap. The Titans also paid him a four-year, $76.4 million extension, making him the sixth-highest-paid cornerback in average annual value.

Vikings Walked Away from L’Jarius Sneed Trade Due to Injury Concerns

The Minnesota Vikings may have been much closer to trading for L’Jarius Sneed than many realize. In fact, Chiefs writer Pete Sweeney indicated that the Vikings only walked away from Sneed due to injury concerns.

“At Arrowhead Pride, we have been told the Vikings considered sending the Chiefs a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick in exchange for Sneed, but they discontinued discussions due to his medical history.”

Pete Sweeney on Vikings’ L’Jarius Sneed trade rumors

Walking away from an expensive player over injury concerns makes sense for a defense that just got very little production out of Marcus Davenport, who inked a contract ‘worth up’ to $13 million ($10M guaranteed) last season. As the Arrowhead Pride website wisely pointed out, Sneed popped up on the injury report in 20 out of 22 weeks last season.

At a rate of $19M per year, that’s far too much of a risk, especially for a player who’s nowhere near a superstar, having never reached a Pro Bowl or earned All-Pro recognition. In turn, the Vikings keep their cap future looking healthy while retaining their draft capital to consider all options for a potential trade-up in the NFL Draft.

Just days before the trade was completed, the Vikings signed former Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin for a much more reasonable $4.5 million. This move not only added more experience to the secondary but also allowed the Vikings to remain flexible in the draft and in future spending.

Related: Vikings, Raiders Reported as Most Desperate to Trade Up for QB… But For Who?

There’s still plenty of work to do, though, especially at cornerback… which happens to be the position of shutdown Kansas City Chiefs cover man, L’Jarius Sneed, the top available defensive back currently on the trade market. We’ve already seen reports on the Vikings checking in and possibly doing some light negotiations with the Chiefs, on what it would take to convince them to trade Sneed.

L’Jarius Sneed would love to be traded to the Minnesota Vikings

But in his most recent scoop session with Mackey & Judd (SKOR North), Darren “Doogie” Wolfson of KSTP mentioned that the feelings between the Vikings and Sneed a very much mutual. Not only is Minnesota interested in Sneed, he “would love to play for the Vikings” and Brian Flores, if Kwesi can find a deal that works.

“There hasn’t been any movement on L’Jarius Sneed, but I’m told, all things relatively equal, he wants to play for Brian Flores. Like L’Jarius Sneed, the Chiefs cornerback, would love to be here. We’re talking about the Vikings, looking at the possibility of moving up, they only have so much draft capital, it’s not the like the Chiefs are giving him away, so the Chiefs are looking for a pretty decent draft pick. Like, you’re not getting him for a sixth or seventh [round draft pick]. Maybe in the end you do, but right now, you’re not. But hey, you need to give him a monster, monster contract. There’s a lot of hurdles there. But I’m just telling you, you know bottom line, all things equal, L’Jarius Sneed would love to play for the Vikings.”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd Show (SKOR North)

L’Jarius Sneed has been mentioned in trade talks since the end of the 2023-24 season, when it became apparent that another contract with the Chiefs was unlikely. Brian Flores is widely considered a top DC around the league, coaching players like Josh Metellus, Cam Bynum and Danielle Hunter to career seasons in 2023-24, and the Vikings organization, as a whole, has been heralded by players as one of the best in the NFL to play for.

Can Vikings get a deal done with Chiefs?

If Kwesi could find a way to land Sneed, he would instantly become Minnesota’s CB1, pushing Byron Murphy Jr to CB2. Suddenly, a defense that gave up the 10th most passing yards in the NFL last season would have dudes like Shaq Griffin and Akayleb Evans battling for CB3. That would be one heck of a depth “problem” to have.

Related: Mel Kiper Has Vikings Drafting Franchise QB at No. 11; Iowa’s Cooper DeJean at No. 23

The Minnesota defense went through its fair share of struggles last season, but Flores wasn’t one of them. What the first-year Vikings DC did with essentially the same personnel as his predecessor, Ed Donatell, was nothing short of incredible. In 2024, Brian will have a group that he’s had a lot more say in putting together.

Sharing this sequence by L'Jarius Sneed against the #Colts for no reason…

Plays a part in 3 of the 4 plays to force a turnover on downs.

1st-and-10: Takes away MPJ to force the QB scramble
2nd-and-7: Open field tackle short of the sticks
4th-and-1: Ends on a strip-sack pic.twitter.com/0mS6rg11gy

— Cody Manning (@CodyTalksNFL) March 16, 2024

Per PFF, he allowed a 66.0 passer rating last season, which ranked 6th among cornerbacks in 2023. Sneed is currently playing under a franchise tag in Kansas City, which slots him in to make $19.8 million dollars this season. As Wolfson mentioned, Sneed is seeking a monster contract. Something that will top Jaire Alexander’s $21 million per year.

Making a trade happen with KC wouldn’t be easy, especially considering the Vikings do not currently own any 2nd or 3rd round picks in April’s draft. And if the reports, that a trade up in the draft is on the horizon, turn out to be true, any draft capital they could use for a Sneed trade would most likely go towards that.

Related: Vikings Schedule Private Pre-Draft Workout with JJ McCarthy in Ann Arbor

But until any of those things actually happen, we’ve learned to “never say never” when it comes to the NFL offseason. At the end of the day, the Minnesota Vikings are hunting for a lockdown cornerback. And L’Jarius Sneed is exactly that… and available.

A recent report by Tyler Dragon at USA Today has revealed the Minnesota Vikings as on of a handful of teams who are interested in newly-turned 27-year-old L’Jarius Sneed. Drafted by the Chiefs the same year as Justin Jefferson (2020), Sneed has already secured two Super Bowl victories and proved himself as one of the best CBs in football.

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs officially placed the franchise tag on cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. Sneed still has permission to seek a trade despite the designation. A person with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports that the Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars have expressed interest in the Chiefs corner. The person told USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Tyler Dragon – USA Today

Dragon notes in his report that Sneed is seen by NextGen Stats as one of the best zone cover cornerbacks in the league, allowing just four yards per target and ZERO touchdowns while playing zone last season.

Minnesota Vikings interested in Chiefs’ L’Jarius Sneed

Sneed played college football at Louisiana Tech and he’s coming into his own at the perfect time. His rookie contract is now expired and L’Jarius wants to cash in on a life-changing contract. But the franchise tag allows Kansas City more time to shop him on the trade market or find common ground on a long-term deal.

Not only that, but the franchise tag completely shifts negotiating power between Sneed and the Chiefs. Instead of impending free agency hanging over the team’s head, it’s a franchise tag hanging over the cornerback’s head.

Related: Mike Florio Reveals Julie and Kirk Cousins as His Sources; Triples Down on Recent Reporting

Playing for $20 million this season, the cost of a franchise tag at the cornerback position in 2024, isn’t so bad though. In other words, trading for Sneed would hit the Vikings twice. They’d have to come up with the trade chips to entice the Chiefs AND pay him when he gets here.

Sneed Would Boost Vikings Defense

Nonetheless, the Minnesota Vikings are in dire need of cornerback help, and L’Jarius Sneed would be a life-changing addition for Brian Flores and his defense. With Akayleb Evans and Byron Murphy Jr. currently holding top spots on the depth chart, Sneed would immediately step into a CB1 role, pushing those two down into a slot where they look a lot better. A high end addition like Sneed could be the quick fix to a Vikings secondary that looked like it was on life support entering the offseason.

Related: Local Insiders Suggest PFT’s Mike Florio is Being Played by Kirk Cousins and His Agent

During his 54 regular season appearances, Sneed has tallied 10 interceptions and 40 passes defended, often tasked with covering the opposing team’s top wide receiver. He was ranked sixth overall on NFL.com’s list of the top 101 free agents and was ranked the #1 CB available before being franchise tagged.

What an insane play by L’Jarius Sneedpic.twitter.com/9thQSH9Vpt

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 28, 2024