Matt Verderame of Fansided, citing a league source, reports that the Chiefs prefer to sign DL Chris Jones to a long-term extension this offseason, even though they’re in a tight cap situation overall.
Jones has come as a potential franchise tag candidate, which would cost them around $16.27 million fully guaranteed for the 2020 season.
According to Verdarame, Jones was seeking a deal similar in value to teammate Frank Clark’s five-year, $105 million contract that included $63.5 million guaranteed. However, Kansas City was reportedly offering him closer to $42 million guaranteed over the first three years.
Jones said after the Super Bowl win that he wanted to re-sign with the Chiefs this offseason.
“You actually got to sit back and enjoy the moment cause you don’t get these moments often. I’m so grateful to be on this team, man,” Jones said via NFL Media’s Jelani Scott. “Kansas City, I know I don’t talk about it much but I want to be a Chief for life. I plan to stay here forever, man, and win not only one championship, two, three, four. We got to build a dynasty here.”
Jones has been a key part of the Chiefs’ defensive line and has been one of the best interior linemen in the NFL the past couple of seasons with 24.5 sacks since 2018.
While Jones didn’t record a sack in Kansas City’s 31-20 Super Bowl win, he had several key pressures and batted down three passes in the game.
Kansas City has other major contracts to consider, notably QB Patrick Mahomes who’s eligible for a record-breaking extension this offseason. But expect Jones to be a priority for the Chiefs as well.
Jones, 25, is a former second-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2016. He just finished the final year of his four-year, $6.231 million contract and made a base salary of $1.19 million in the final year of the agreement.
In 2019, Jones appeared in 13 games for the Chiefs and recorded 36 tackles, nine sacks, one forced fumble, one recovery and four pass defenses.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2020 Free Agents list.
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