Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
The Kansas City Chiefs are two weeks into training camp, and All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones has yet to report to camp as he awaits a contract extension. And according to head coach Andy Reid, there’s no timetable as to when Jones will join the team.
“I don’t know when he’ll be here, but I’ll tell you any work he can get will help him. It’s a pretty fast game,” Reid said of Jones during his press conference on August 7.
Jones is being fined $50,000 for every training camp practice he doesn’t attend. As of August 7, Jones has missed 19 training camp practices, which means he has racked up $950,000 in fines thus far. And with the end of his holdout seemingly nowhere in sight per Andy Reid, that fine total will continue to increase.
Chris Jones Making Money from DirecTV Ad
Though Chris Jones is still awaiting a big payday from the Chiefs, he is making money from a recent commercial he did with teammate and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce.
Jones and Kelce tag-teamed a commercial in which they promoted DirecTV’s “Sports Central”. Jones and Kelce shared the commercial on their respective Instagram accounts on August 7.
Chris Jones in pads .. in a DirecTV Commercial with Travis Kelce. Full commercial on Kelce/Jones IG.
Doing that commercial is an easy way for Jones to pay off some of the fines he is racking up from skipping training camp without having to dip into his football money.
Users on Twitter — which was recently rebranded to “X” — reacted to the commercial.
“@StoneColdJones you don’t get these without being on a winner! Meet in the middle and go get sacks on sacks!” one user wrote.
@HaroldRKuntz3 @StoneColdJones you don’t get these without being on a winner! Meet in the middle and go get sacks on sacks!
“98 looks weird on him,” another user wrote.
@HaroldRKuntz3 98 looks weird on him
Chris Jones Seeking $30 Million Per Year: Report
According to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor on July 23, Chris Jones and the Chiefs are at a “stalemate” due to Jones’ contract demands.
“Jones and the team — led by club owner Clark Hunt and general manager Brett Veach — are at a stalemate for now as Jones seeks an extension that would pay him an average annual salary of $30 million,” Taylor wrote.
Jones, 29, sported the highest PFF pass-rush grade among all interior defenders in the NFL in 2022 with a 92.2. He earned that by recording a total of 77 pressures (50 QB hurries, 15 sacks, 12 QB hits), 31 stops, and 2 forced fumbles during the 2022 regular season according to PFF.
Jones’ 92.3 PFF defensive grade during the regular season was also the highest among all interior defenders in the NFL, which snapped Aaron Donald’s eight-year streak of being the highest-graded interior defender in the NFL.
Arguably the best performance of Jones’ seven-year NFL career came during Kansas City’s AFC Championship victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in January. During that game Jones dominated by way of 10 total pressures (5 QB hurries, 3 QB hits, 2 sacks) and 3 stops.
Having that type of season is why Jones asking for $30 million per year is warranted. But are the Chiefs going to give their star defender what he wants?
According to Over The Cap’s effective cap space (the cap space a team will have after signing at least 51 players and its projected rookie class to its roster), Kansas City has $562,353 in available spending money.
Extending Jones will not only make one of the top 3 most valuable players on the team happy, but it will also reduce his $28.2 million cap hit for the 2023 season. That in turn will provide the team with more financial freedom heading into the 2023 regular season.