Could Brian Flores’ presence help the Vikings land L’Jarius Sneed?
According to KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, the Chiefs cornerback would “love” to play for the Vikings defensive coordinator.
“I’m told, everything being relatively equal, he wants to play for Brian Flores,” Wolfson said on Tuesday’s Mackey and Judd show. “L’Jarius Sneed, the Chiefs cornerback, would love to be here.”
Kansas City placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on the former fourth-round pick, which allows Sneed to seek a trade. In 2023, Sneed held opposing QBs to a 66.0 passer rating, according to PFF, which ranked sixth best among NFL corners last season.
The cost of acquiring Sneed won’t be cheap, both in terms of a trade and his contract. Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame reported over the weekend a big sticking point in trade talks is Chiefs’ asking price for the star cornerback, which some teams deem as “too high.”
On the L’Jarius Sneed front, I’m told the main sticking point has been Sneed’s asking price.
The Colts and Titans are two of the top teams trying to execute a trade, but Sneed’s price is too high, per source.
For now, Sneed remains in KC on $19.8M tag.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) March 16, 2024
If it takes a high draft pick to get Sneed, Minnesota might be hamstrung because they don’t have second- or third-round picks this year. And if the Vikings want to move up in the first round for a quarterback this year, that’s where their expendable draft capital might be used.
“The Chiefs are looking for a pretty decent draft pick, you’re not getting him for a sixth or seventh (round pick). Now, maybe in the end you do, but right now you’re not. And you need to give him a monster, monster contract. So, there’s a lot of hurdles there,” Wolfson said.
Sneed would provide much-needed help in the secondary for a Vikings defense that allowed the ninth-most passing yards in the league last season. While the passing defense struggled at times, Flores engineered a remarkable turnaround after the 2022 defense, under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, was one of the worst in the league.
Former Dolphins corner Xavien Howard recently talked highly about his time playing for Flores in Miami, saying he was a “player-coach guy.”
“He held everybody to a standard,” Howard said on The OGs Show. “Like, me and Flores weren’t no buddy-buddy this and that but I respect him.”
“He came in there every day, he approached every day the same way,” Howard continued. “No matter who you is he gonna chew your a** out if you ain’t doing something right. And he ain’t gonna dap you up if you doing some good, you supposed to do that.”
