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We already know that Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones skipped mandatory minicamp because he wants a contract extension. But when he also missed the team’s ring ceremony on Thursday, June 15, members of Chiefs Kingdom grew concerned over Jones’s relationship with the team during his holdout.
But Chris Jones cleared the air on June 19 regarding the star defender missing the ring ceremony.
Responding to a tweet from a concerned Chiefs fan that tweeted, “I understand contract talks and all but why wouldn’t @StoneColdJones still show up for the ring ceremony??” Jones issued a three-word response that will calm all of Chiefs Kingdom.
“I was sick,” Jones wrote.
Chris Jones Will Get a Contract Extension This Summer
Chris Jones, 28, is in the final year of his four-year, $80 million deal with Kansas City and has a $28.2 million cap hit for the 2023 season according to Over The Cap.
The most efficient way to lower his cap number for at least the 2023 season would be to hand Jones a contract extension, which would give him yet another payday but would also push his cap hits down the road. Kansas City would eventually have to address those cap hits as it has to this off-season under Jones’ current deal. But an extension would provide cap relief for the team for the next year or two while also making their star defender happy.
According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic on March 2, Jones wants a contract extension that makes him “at least” the second highest-paid player at his position.
That means the defending Super Bowl champions will have to give Jones a deal that exceeds Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons’, as Simmons received a four-year, $94 million extension this off-season which includes $66 million in total guarantees per Over The Cap.
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), the Chiefs currently have $652,557 in cap space.
Brett Veach Speaks About Chris Jones Extension
Speaking to the media at the ring ceremony, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach was asked about Chris Jones holding out of minicamp and did not appear to be concerned about reaching an agreement with Jones prior to training camp.
“We have great communication and there’s a lot of time before camp,” Veach said via Harold R. Kuntz of Fox 4 in Kansas City. “[I] feel good about where we’re going to be with Chris. We’ll get to celebrate tonight and have a good time, break tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll have great dialogue from now to the start of training camp and look forward to Chris being here not just for next year, but for a long time.”
When asked if he had a specific deadline in mind to get the deal done with Jones, Veach was noncommittal.
“Not really,” Veach said. “Listen, we have a long history together and we have a great relationship with his agent. I mean, these things usually get worked out right before [or] right during the first start of camp so we anticipate the same, and we’ll see how it goes.”
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