Getty Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones in 2021.
The Chris Jones holdout has been frustrating for fans, with little to no information from the Kansas City Chiefs and nothing but cryptic comments from Jones.
On August 10, there was another vague post from the superstar defensive lineman on X and a loyal KC supporter couldn’t take it anymore. “Stay strong & Carry on…” Jones voiced, to which the fan responded: “Chris, this cryptic tweeting is making us nuts, ok me, it’s making me nuts lol. I just need a yes or no, preferably a yes. 😁”
To his credit, the man of the people offered a reply, and the ensuing conversation served as a positive update for any Chiefs fan wondering if Jones might be traded ahead of the 2023 season. “Okay lets dead it. What specifically do you want to know? [I] have time for one Question?” He asked.
“Ok sir,” the fan wrote back, “will you be returning for more years with the Chiefs?”
@StoneColdJones Thank you for answering me Chris and I seriously hoping you come back for life!
That’s when Jones provided the all-important message. “I’m under contract for one more year!” He answered. “I’m no fortune teller. Let’s enjoy this year 🏆.”
Chris Jones’ Agent Chimes In With Cryptic Emoji
After Jones’ initial post, his sports agent Michael J. Katz commented with one simple emoji, but it kept the good vibes going on Thursday night.
“😎,” was the one-character reply.
“Hopefully that is a we got the bag he’s staying in KC 😎,” one fan said, and then another assumed that the emoji meant: “Stay cool.”
There was one nervous response. “Pretty sure 😎 from an agent is never good for the team,” it read. “It means either the team caved to their outrageous demands -or- that they convinced their player to stick it out until they force a trade so they can get the absolute max the league will give. Neither is good for Chiefs.”
Keep in mind, these reactions are only the opinions of fans.
Latest on the Chris Jones, Chiefs Negotiations
In case you missed it, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach spoke with The Kansas City Star’s Jesse Newell on the negotiations between Jones and the organization earlier this week on August 7.
“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.”
Later, on August 10, The Athletic’s Nate Taylor reported that the holdup is that “the Chiefs, according to a league source, are unwilling to make Jones the league’s highest-paid defensive tackle.”
That honor is currently held by Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald based on average annual salary at $31.6 million per year, according to Over the Cap. Of course, New York Jets DT Quinnen Williams is the highest paid at that position based on total contract value ($96 million) and total guarantees ($66 million).
“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,” Taylor added.
Taylor also noted a quote from Veach in his article, which stated: “You’d like to keep the communication positive as long as possible. The reality of it is, at some point, if there isn’t a resolution, that communication may become not as positive. That’s just something we’ll have to deal with.”
The latest social media post from Jones came on August 11. It was headlined by two “⌛️⌛️” emojis, with a quote that read: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
The words come courtesy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, a philosopher and abolitionist who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.
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Chiefs’ Chris Jones Gives Fan Telling Update on Contract Drama