Titans CB L'Jarius Sneed says 'nothing wrong with my knee' after $76 million extension
The Tennessee Titans have their $55 million cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, and reporters had questions about his knee.
During Sneed's introductory news conference Tuesday, the two-time Super Bowl champion was asked about his health following rumors that concerns about his knee impacted his trade market. His answer, via veteran Titans reporter Paul Kuharsky:
"Ain't nothing wrong with my knee. I'm fine. I played the whole season. Years before that, I played as well. I had a couple of problems, I had a banged-up knee before, but I'm good right now. Nothing is really wrong with my knee."
In addition to effective, Sneed has been durable over the last few years for the Chiefs. He missed part of his rookie year with a broken collarbone in 2020, but has missed only three games in three seasons since. One of those was last year's Week 18 game, in which he sat alongside other Chiefs starters.
The reason for questions around his knee came last month, when reports surfaced that he played through a knee issue last season and it was now having an impact on his trade value, including a scuttled trade.
The trade to the Titans eventually went through, followed four days later by a four-year, $76.4 million deal with $55 million guaranteed. The Titans clearly believed there wasn't much to worry about with the knee.
The Chiefs also likely would have liked to retain Sneed, but faced a tight salary cap sheet after their second-straight Super Bowl title. The team managed to retain one of its star free agents, Chris Jones, on an extension but Sneed ended up getting the franchise tag and permission to seek a trade.
Sneed was graded by Pro Football Focus as the No. 30 cornerback out of 127 in the NFL last season, with his biggest play of the season coming against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game when he punched out a would-be touchdown from the arms of Zay Flowers. Now, Sneed will join a Titans team undergoing an overhaul after the firing of head coach Mike Vrabel and the hiring of replacement Brian Callahan.