Patrick Mahomes‘ looming extension overshadows the Chiefs’ other offseason matters, but the team looks to have reached a decision on Chris Jones. Well, to some degree.

The free agent defensive tackle would be one of the top players available on this year’s market, but the Chiefs do not plan to let him get there. If they cannot reach an extension agreement by the end of the window to apply franchise tags (March 10), the defending Super Bowl champions will tag Jones, Albert Breer of SI.com notes.

A defensive tackle franchise tag would run the Chiefs approximately $16.3MM. Based on Jones’ per-year asking price, that would be a bargain for Kansas City. Last year, Jones held out in hopes of securing a deal north of $20MM per year. The contract the Chiefs gave Frank Clark after trading for him — five years, $104MM with $63MM guaranteed — represents the most lucrative accord in franchise history. With Jones making his first Pro Bowl a year after setting the NFL record for most consecutive games with a sack, his price point this time around will surely not drop.

That stands to complicate matters for the Chiefs, who will face a difficult task in paying two defensive linemen over $20MM per year and authorizing Mahomes’ record-setting extension. The Chiefs already have two wideouts earning at least $16MM per year, leading to understandable speculation Sammy Watkins will be released to expand on the Chiefs’ $13MM worth of cap space.

Tag-and-trade scenarios for Jones may surface, as the Chiefs were part of tag-and-trade deals for Clark and Dee Ford last year. But Breer expects the standout interior pass rusher to be a Chief next season. Jones, 25, getting to $20MM AAV make him just the second interior defender to hit that mark, joining Aaron Donald. The latter is attached to a $22.5MM-per-year pact, which leads all other inside defenders by more than $5MM annually.

The negotiations between the Chiefs and defensive lineman Chris Jones may be on the right track. Jones, who previously skipped team activities, reported for the start of training camp on Friday.

“He knows his value and if he has to play out his deal in order to reach free agency, then that’s what he will do. For now, he’s focused on winning a Super Bowl for Kansas City,” his agents told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Jones wants a deal similar to the one that Frank Clark received after he was traded to Kansas City from Seattle (five years, $104MM, $63.5MM in guarantees). The Chiefs, meanwhile, want to keep the AAV lower than $20MM per season and want to keep the guarantees in the $45-50MM ballpark. However, the Chiefs may prefer to pay out a significant chunk of those guarantees upfront in the form of a signing bonus, and given that only ~$44MM of Clark’s guaranteed money was fully-guaranteed at signing, the two sides might not be far apart.

The Chiefs, though, have every reason to slow play this situation. Even if they don’t reach a long-term deal with Jones this year, they can get another season out of him for next to nothing and hit him with the franchise tag in 2020.

Not much in the way of good news has emerged during Chris Jones‘ negotiations with the Chiefs, and Sunday brought more of the same. The Chiefs and their standout interior rusher are entrenched in their positions as camp approaches.

But regarding a holdout, Jones has not yet decided on this course of action, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. The Chiefs’ first training camp practice is scheduled for Saturday.

Jones is believed to want north of $20MM per year, while the Chiefs would prefer he come in under that figure. Four defenders — Khalil Mack ($23MM AAV), Aaron Donald ($22.5MM), DeMarcus Lawrence ($21MM) and Frank Clark ($20.8MM) — are in the $20MM-plus club. Neither Jones nor Clark has made a Pro Bowl, but both have been two of the better players at their respective positions over the past three years. The Chiefs employing both Clark and Jones, with Patrick Mahomes and perhaps Tyreek Hill also on tap for extensions, complicates this situation.

The Chiefs also want to keep the guarantees in the $45-50MM ballpark, which would still be a quality haul for Jones given that Donald’s full guarantee was $50MM and only five interior defenders have secured more than $45MM in total guarantees. Although Jones has not earned anything close to Donald-level accolades, he set an NFL record last season by recording a sack in 11 straight games.

Jones has until August 6 to report to camp in order to accrue a fourth season toward unrestricted free agency. But as Florio points out, Jones being a restricted free agent in 2020 (should he not report by August 6) may not matter too much since a team would probably be willing to give up a first-round pick for him. The franchise tag would protect the Chiefs on that front, perhaps making August’s deadline less pertinent. Donald skipped this deadline when he held out in 2017, reporting to the Rams in September of that year, before signing an extension in 2018.

Jones and Hill entering 2020 unsigned would make for an interesting tag situation. Jones being a much more stable bet than Hill, making a tag potentially a better move with the latter standout, could influence the Chiefs regarding an extension. Kansas City has recent experience on this front, going the tag-and-extend route with both Justin Houston and Eric Berry. Berry’s deal occurring after a tagged season, but both delayed extensions proved more costly for the Chiefs than they otherwise would have. These several factors make the coming days interesting on the Jones front.

Last month, we heard that extension talks between the Chiefs and star DT Chris Jones had stalled. Jones skipped minicamp as a result of his contract situation and may hold out of the first part of training camp (as we have noted previously, he must report by August 6 in order to remain eligible for unrestricted free agency next year).

But a source tells Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star that both sides are presently entrenched in their negotiating positions and have not really budged. Further, Mellinger indicates that Jones’ camp and the Chiefs have not even discussed the matter recently.

Jones, understandably, wants a deal similar to the one that Frank Clark received after he was traded to Kansas City from Seattle (five years, $104MM, $63.5MM in guarantees). The Chiefs, meanwhile, want to keep the AAV lower than $20MM per season and want to keep the guarantees in the $45-50MM ballpark. However, Mellinger does say that the club would prefer to pay out a significant chunk of those guarantees upfront in the form of a signing bonus, and given that “only” about $44MM of Clark’s guaranteed money was fully-guaranteed at signing, perhaps Jones and the Chiefs are not as far apart as it appears.

The Chiefs, though, have every reason to slowplay this situation, because even if they don’t reach a long-term deal with Jones this year, they will have gotten another season out of him for next to nothing and could simply hit him with the franchise tag in 2020 (and whatever money they don’t spend this year they can roll over into next year). And, while quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be eligible for an extension that is sure to be otherworldly in 2020, such an extension will probably be quite lengthy, which will help to make the price tag a little more palatable. That’s not to mention the fact that the salary cap is likely going to continue rising, and the Chiefs have a number of contracts that could be terminated or reworked.

Jones is an excellent player, and one expert believes he is already a $20MM/year defender. He would be plenty justified in betting on himself and spurning whatever proposal the Chiefs have on the table if he does not believe it represents fair market value, though it would also be quite difficult to turn down the type of money that Kansas City is apparently already offering.

As Mellinger notes, Jones has not publicly said that he will skip any portion of training camp, so it will be interesting to see if he reports with the rest of his teammates this week.

There has been no change in the Chris Jones situation in recent weeks, a source tells Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). It doesn’t sound like a new deal is on the horizon for the defensive tackle, though he’ll have to report to camp by Aug. 6 to receive an accrued season toward free agency.

Jones skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp, subjecting him to roughly $90K in fines. From here, Jones doesn’t have a ton of options, though he’s made it clear that he wants a bump from his current deal. For now, he’s slated to earn a $1.2MM base salary with a paltry $1.3MM cap hit.

Following his stellar 2018 season, the 25-year-old should end up seeing a sizable pay raise. Jones enjoyed a breakout campaign, finishing with a career-high 40 tackles and 15.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked him fifth among 112 interior defenders, with his pass-rushing score ranking second at the position.

With Dee Ford out of the picture, the Chiefs need Jones more than ever. In a perfect world, they’d lock him up immediately, but a long-term pact for the rising star won’t be cheap.

Defensive tackle Chris Jones did not report to the Chiefs on Tuesday and is not expected to partake in minicamp, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. The two sides were discussing a new contract, but those talks have stalled. 

By skipping camp, Jones will be subject to roughly $90K in fines. He’ll also, potentially, send a message to the team that he is serious about getting a long-term deal that is in line with the market.

The former second-rounder is entering the final year of his contract. Jones is set to earn a $1.2MM base salary with a paltry $1.3MM cap hit.

Following his 2018 season, the 24-year-old (25 in July) should end up seeing a sizable pay raise. Jones had a breakout campaign last year, finishing with a career-high 40 tackles and 15.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus ultimately ranked him fifth among 112 interior defenders, with his pass-rushing score ranking second at the position.

With Dee Ford out of the picture, the Chiefs need Jones more than ever.