While the Chiefs are not planning to let Chris Jones get away, the dynamic interior pass rusher staying in Kansas City long-term is another matter. The Chiefs have a $20MM defensive lineman already, in Frank Clark, and will likely have to give Patrick Mahomes a deal in the $40MM-AAV neighborhood. Nevertheless, the Chiefs have the UFA-to-be entrenched as their top priority going into March.
“Chris is obviously a great player, and he’s a priority,” GM Brett Veach said via KCChiefs.com’s B.J. Kissel on his In the Trenches podcast (h/t Chiefs Wire). “We have a lot of priorities. Look, we know how hard it is to win a Super Bowl. It hadn’t been done in 50 years and we won it with the group we had last year. So I think that as we attack this offseason, first up its free agency before the draft, our goal and mindset is to do whatever we can to retain as many players as we can. And Chris is at the top of that list because of the talent he is.”
It will likely take near-Aaron Donald-level money ($22.5MM per year) to lock down Jones long-term, but the franchise tag is only estimated to cost $16.3MM. Despite the Chiefs currently holding $13.7MM in cap space, that is likely where this situation is headed for the time being. Here is the latest from the AFC:
- Karl Dorrell‘s decision to leave the Dolphins to become Colorado’s head coach may impact other staffs. The Browns recently hired T.C. McCartney as an assistant, but Dorrell has the young coach on his radar, Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets. The Broncos’ 2019 quarterbacks coach, McCartney is the son of late Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese and grandson of longtime Buffaloes coach Bill McCartney. T.C. McCartney has worked on the Buffs’ staff previously. Signs point to the Browns having a job opening soon.
- Three Patriots are changing agents. Both defensive tackle Danny Shelton and cornerback J.C. Jackson will now be Drew Rosenhaus clients, with Mike Reiss of ESPN.com adding that Pats right tackle Marcus Cannon will be represented by Joby Branion and Eugene Lee. Cannon recently said there is nothing to retirement rumors, and this move points to the 31-year-old blocker coming back for a 10th season. Shelton is an unrestricted free agent, while Jackson is due for restricted free agency in 2021.
- With the CBA coming down to the wire before the 2020 league year, teams may be able use both their franchise and transition tags this offseason. There will be many players mentioned in tag rumors this week. The tight end market could lose a key member, with Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com writing it makes sense for the Chargers to tag Hunter Henry at the near-$11MM price. That move would help a Tom Brady pursuit. Additionally, Rosenthal sees Ryan Tannehill‘s franchise tag making a Derrick Henry transition tag sensible for the Titans. The running back transition tag is projected to come in at less than $9MM. If a new CBA is agreed to, however, teams can only use either their franchise or transition tags. That would complicate matters for the Titans.
Needless to say… Chiefs won’t have a dynasty. This is going the way of Flacco and the Ravens post-SB run.
Ummmm. If ur comparing mahomes to flacco then go ahead and slap yourself. As long as he’s the chiefs Qb they are perineal super bowl contenders
Put down the Kool-Aid. I get what he’s saying. Dan Marino was a generational talent and look what happened to him. Mahomes may have KC in the playoffs every year and perhaps a perennial (slap yourself for not using spellcheck) SB contender, but the salary cap makes it very difficult road to travel.
Aias, don’t bother. Hemp didn’t get out of kindergarten.
yes, the super bowl of the perineum is a whooole other website… I’ve heard
OMG. You are the reason spell check was invented. Look up the difference between “perineal” and “perennial”.
I’d compare it more to a Russell Wilson situation. Flacco was wildly overpaid based on a couple of a throws he made in the postseason. He was never an elite QB or even a consistent X-factor QB. A solid QB, but hardly one that you could depend on to carry a team.
Russ on the other hand is a near elite, if not elite, QB and can carry his team to a couple of wins every year. The big contract he ended up needing (plus the contracts Seattle’s defensive studs needed) led to the end of that group. Same will go for KC…big contracts for Mahomes, Clark, Kelce, Jones, etc will cause the team to make some tough decisions.
a word of advice to the Titans – there are plenty more Tannehills out there than Henrys
Lots more Mariota’s also