Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports that the Chiefs have “growing optimism” that they can get an extension in place with DT Chris Jones before the start of free agency.
The Chiefs have made it clear that they’re prioritizing a new deal for Jones before the start of free agency.
“I love Chris,” Veach said at the Combine. “We tried really hard to get something done (last year) and we didn’t. But when we got together right after that Detroit game (in early September), we had a great talk.
“Both parties, I think, want to be here, so we’ll get to work. That’s certainly a guy we want back and love and want to see him finish his career here in Kansas City.”
Kansas City is reportedly franchising CB L’Jarius Snead, so getting a deal in place with Jones sooner rather than later would make plenty of sense.
Jones, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2016 out of Mississippi State. He played out 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.
The Chiefs franchised Jones before eventually signing him a four-year, $85M extension that included $60 million guaranteed.
Jones just finished the final year of that deal and was set to make a base salary of $19.5 million in 2023 when he held out through Week 1. The team gave him $6.75 million in incentives to end his contract holdout.
In 2023, Jones appeared in 16 games for the Chiefs and recorded 30 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and four passes defended.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2024 NFL Free Agents list.
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