Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones has accrued $1 million in fines as of August 8 due to missing a total of 20 training camp practices amid his contract holdout.
On the same day he reached that seven-figure mark in fines, Jones took to Twitter — which was recently rebranded to “X” — to issue a brief message to Chiefs Kingdom.
“KC… I love you,” Jones wrote.
KC… I love you
With under a week remaining until Kansas City’s preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints on August 13, Jones and the Chiefs appear to be at a stalemate in contract negotiations. That’s likely in large part because Jones is seeking a contract that pays him $30 million per year, according to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor on July 23.
That type of contract would make Jones the second-high-paid defensive interior lineman in the NFL based on average annual salary, per Over The Cap. The highest-paid defensive interior lineman in the league is Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald, who makes $31.6 million annually.
Brett Veach Breaks Silence on Chris Jones’ Holdout
Speaking to The Kansas City Star for an article published on August 7, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach spoke about Jones’ holdout for the first time since the All-Pro began his holdout, which dates back to 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 The Star’s Jesse 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 also noted that Kansas City opted to not give Tyreek Hill the contract he wanted in 2022 and in turn traded him to the Miami Dolphins because the Chiefs were 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.”
Twitter Users React to Chris Jones’ Post
Users on Twitter reacted to Chris Jones’ post on August 8.
“You’ve done more than enough for KC… handle YOUR [business]! God bless you and yours,” one user wrote.
“We love you Chris you got full chiefs Kingdom Support. Congratulations on your top ten (ranking in the top 100 players list). You deserve every bit of money and long contract you can get. We all know how valuable you are. Praying it works out for you,” another user wrote.
@StoneColdJones We love you Chris you got full chiefs Kingdom Support. Congratulations on your top ten. You deserve every bit of money and long contract you can get. We all know how valuable you are. Praying it works out for you.
“Love enough to take a little less to keep the band together? If so amazing. If not, no hard feelings,” another user wrote.
@StoneColdJones Love enough to take a little less to keep the band together?
If so amazing. If not, no hard feelings.
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Chris Jones Issues 4-Word Message to Chiefs Kingdom Amid Holdout