New season, same issue.
The calendar says the year is 2023, but the Chiefs are seeing shades of 2019 and 2020. Training camp season has officially arrived, and, as usual, holdout season has begun, too.
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Veterans were slated to report to Chiefs camp on Saturday. Defensive tackle Chris Jones was a notable absence. He's seeking a new contract, but his disagreement with the team is anything but new.
In fact, this is the third contract dispute between Jones and the reigning Super Bowl champs in five seasons.
The Sporting News looks at Jones' contract disputes and how his current deal stacks up against others at his position.
Chris Jones contract dispute history
Contract disputes between Jones and the team have become a training camp tradition in Kansas City. Here is a brief timeline:
2019
The team hired Steve Spagnuolo to be their defensive coordinator, and one of his early moves was to shift Jones from defensive end to defensive tackle.
That positional switch also meant a decrease in value on the open market, something that was at the heart of negotiations between Jones and the Chiefs, according to NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha.
@chiefs team source says there is big gap between team and @stonecoldjones_ on new deal. Team wants something closer to the 4-yr/$68m/$42 m guaranteed @AtlantaFalcons gave @GradyJarrett. Jones wants to be closer to deal Frank Clark just got (5yr/$104m/$63m guaranteed).
— Jeffri Chadiha (@jeffrichadiha) July 26, 2019
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After skipping offseason workouts, Jones showed up to training camp to learn Spagnuolo's system. Wanting to be paid like a premier pass rusher, he opted to play out the final year of his rookie contract in hopes of getting a big extension the following offseason. That new contract didn't come so easily.
2020
Coming off a Super Bowl victory, Jones appeared primed for a big payday. He had become a key piece of the Kansas City defense and had a few massive pass deflections in the Chiefs' victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl 54.
Instead of an extension, the Chiefs gave No. 95 the dreaded franchise tag.
Jones, unhappy at that reality, took to Twitter and offered up a proposal. He suggested he wouldn't play if the sides couldn't agree to an extension.
Or I won’t play. @LeVeonBell told me about this
— Chris Jones (@StoneColdJones) July 1, 2020
After extending Patrick Mahomes a week prior, the Chiefs rewarded Jones with a big-money extension a day before the deadline to make a multi-year deal with franchise-tagged players. When the Chiefs opened camp later that month, Jones was in attendance, with a lot more cash in hand.
2023
Three years later, the sides find themselves in a familiar spot. Coming off another Super Bowl victory, the Chiefs are faced with two options — pay Jones or risk going into the season without their best defensive player. The playbook has remained the mostly same, although there is a new wrinkle.
Jones skipped offseason activities, but for the first time he followed that up by not reporting to camp.
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The Chiefs were optimistic during the offseason about getting a deal done.
"We have great communication and there's a lot of time before camp," general manager Brett Veach said in June, via Harold R. Kuntz of Kansas City TV station WDAF. "I feel good about where we're going to be with Chris."
But on the Tuesday before the start of camp, coach Andy Reid told reporters he wasn't sure if Jones would show up.
“I don’t know that,” Reid said. “We’ll have to just see how that goes. I mean there is communication going on, that’s the important part. Then, we just have to see.”
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the two sides remain far apart in negotiations.
Chiefs’ All-Pro DT Chris Jones, who has been seeking a new deal this off-season, did not report with the rest of the team to training camp today, per source. The two sides remain “far apart” on a new deal for the Defensive Players of the Year finalist. pic.twitter.com/7doEzdxZcO
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 22, 2023
Chris Jones contract
Jones ranks as the ninth highest-paid interior defensive lineman in the league with a $20 million AAV (average annual value), according to Over The Cap.
However, Jones does not have any guaranteed money left on his contract. He is in the final year of the four-year, $80 million deal he signed prior to the start of training camp in 2020.
MORE: The NFL's highest-paid players on defense in 2023 salary
Other prominent players at the position — Quinnen Williams, Jeffrey Simmons, Daron Payne and Dexter Lawrence — have reset the market this offseason with big-money deals.
At age 29, Jones is looking to cash in again while his value is still high.
Chris Jones stats
While most of the Chiefs' success is rightfully placed on Mahomes' right arm and Reid's play sheet, it would be malpractice to erase Jones from the discussion.
He's one of the league's best defenders and is coming off another stellar season. Jones played in all 17 games and recorded 15.5 sacks. He was named first-team All-Pro and finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
It was Jones' best season since making the switch to tackle in Spagnuolo's defense in 2019.
