The Chiefs are busy preparing for the NFL Draft, but Chris Jones‘ contract remains an offseason priority for them. On Thursday, GM Brett Veach made it clear that he wants to keep the defensive tackle for the long haul.
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“The deadline to get a deal done is July 15. So there’s a lot of time to continue dialogue and to work on something with Chris,” Veach said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). “But, we certainly are going to work to retain him. Not just for next year, but for the future.”
Earlier this year, the Chiefs applied the franchise tag to cuff Jones for one year at a $16.1MM rate. Still, the Mississippi State product has continued to push for a long-term deal. Fresh off the heels of his first Pro Bowl nod, he’s not exactly thrilled about the prospect of a one-year contract.
“It’s like a mix of emotions,” Jones said in March. “Because you figure, you know, after four years, you do everything the right way, within the team way, you try to stay under the line, out of trouble, and be a good citizen for a team and for the city, you expect to be rewarded….It’s like, ‘Man, what else you want me to do?’”
The Chiefs would like to keep Jones for years to come, but they’re limited by their cap flexibility. The Sammy Watkins helped them get to just $5MM in space and Jones is aiming for something in the $20MM/year range.
Go all Belicheat and trade him. Send him to Jacksonville or Atlanta and see how he likes playing there with no chance to win for a couple of $$$ more.
I don’t think we need him bad enough to pay him $20M/Yr for 4-5 years. We are paying too many big deals as it is, not counting Mahomes’ future contract.
Either keep him on the franchise for one more superbowl run or trade him, dont extend him at top dollar.
He is a must keep,our front seven seemed to come all together the second half of the season.The defensive backfield is a place needed to be discussed, and even more so after losing Fuller