Lions Coach Throws Shade at Chiefs for Chris Jones’ Holdout

Getty Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions still have several weeks before they play each other in the regular season opener on September 7. But when they do kick off the 2023 NFL season, Lions head coach Dan Campbell is hopeful that one Chiefs still won’t be with the team:

Chris Jones.

When asked if he’s hopeful that Jones — who is currently holding out for a new contract — will still be holding out come the regular season, Campbell gave his stamp of approval for that idea.

“Yeah, that’d be great. I love where he’s at right now. Hopefully, we can keep him there,” Campbell told Mike Stone and Jon Jansen of WXYT-FM 97.1 on August 17.

Campbell also said Detroit is in “hyperdrive” when it comes to their preparation for the regular season opener.

“We’ve got some things that we’re already looking at,” Campbell said. “It started in the spring a little bit and now we’ve kind of been in hyperdrive the last week. We’re already in the beginning phases of this, to get ready for them.”

Chris Jones, Chiefs Still Working on New Deal

The floor for Chris Jones’ contract demands have been known for several months now, since The Athletic’s Nate Taylor reported on March 2 that Jones wants to be “at least” the second-highest-paid player at his position.

Taylor also reported on July 23 that Jones was seeking an extension that pays him $30 million annually.

On August 10, Taylor revealed the line the Chiefs have drawn in terms of how much they are willing to pay their All-Pro defender.

“The Chiefs, according to a league source, are unwilling to make Jones the league’s highest-paid defensive tackle,” Taylor wrote. “The franchise, which has played in three of the last four Super Bowls, winning two, doesn’t have a single player who is the league’s highest paid at his position.”

The highest-paid defensive interior lineman in the NFL based on average annual salary is Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald at $31.6 million per year, according to Over the Cap. The New York Jets’ Quinnen Williams is the highest paid at that position based on total contract value ($96 million) and total guarantees ($66 million).

Brett Veach Speaks About Chris Jones’ Holdout

Speaking to The Kansas City Star’s Jesse Newell for an article published on August 7, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach spoke about Jones’ holdout for the first time since it began in June when he skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp.

“He’s a great player, and he wants a big contract. He deserves a big contract, and I don’t think there’s any surprises in that regard,” Veach told Newell. “But there’s just some hurdles we have to work through in regards to how we can keep this thing going for the short- and long-term. But we’ve never wavered on, ‘This is a guy that we want to exhaust all of our efforts to get done,’ because that’s how much we think of him.”

Veach noted that the Chiefs opted to not give Tyreek Hill the contract he wanted in 2022 and in turn traded him to the Miami Dolphins because Kansas City was planning for an extension with Jones. Veach also made it clear that trading Jones isn’t an option at this time.

“I think for all parties, I think the best resolution would be for him to end his career as a Chief — and get that financial security — and for us to do what we had set out to do, and that’s to work through last offseason with this offseason in mind and get some young guys, which we did that, and then focus on this year and getting Chris done,” Veach said. “Hopefully, we get this resolved, but we have no intentions of making a trade.”