Chris Jones Posts Celebratory Super Bowl Photo with Chiefs’ Reid amid Contract Talks

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVMarch 7, 2024

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones may have teased a potential return to the Kansas City Chiefs with a social media post on Thursday.

Jones, who is set to become a free agent next week when the NFL’s new league year begins, took to X to post a photo of himself and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid celebrating the team’s Super Bowl LVIII win:

Chris Jones @StoneColdJonesKC…… pic.twitter.com/yODPsrCYf7

The 29-year-old Jones has spent his entire eight-year career in Kansas City and has won three Super Bowls, including each of the past two.

Originally selected by Kansas City in the second round of the 2016 NFL draft out of Mississippi State, Jones has been a dominant force for most of his career.

In 123 career regular-season games, Jones has 75.5 sacks, making him one of the top pass-rushing defensive tackles of his era.

Jones has been named a Pro Bowler in each of the past five seasons and a first-team All-Pro in each of the past two. He matched his career high with 15.5 sacks in 2022 and finished with 10.5 sacks last season.

After failing to record a playoff sack in any of his first six NFL seasons, Jones had two during the Chiefs’ 2022 Super Bowl run, and he finished with eight tackles and a half-sack in last season’s playoffs.

In 2020, the Chiefs signed Jones to a four-year, $80 million contract extension, but he quickly outplayed that deal.

Jones was unhappy with his contract entering the 2023 campaign and held out, missing the Chiefs’ loss to the Detroit Lions in the regular-season opener. The two sides eventually agreed to a restructured one-year, $19.5 million deal, and Jones went on to appear in 16 regular-season games and every playoff contest.

Even so, there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding whether the Chiefs would be able to retain Jones moving forward, and there still is.

Jones’ production dictates that he could command a contract that rivals Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald as the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history at an average annual value of $31.666 million.

The Chiefs began the offseason well over the salary cap, but they have made some moves to get to $3.462 million under, per OverTheCap.com.

The Chiefs still have work to do to make Jones’ return possible. But if they can structure his deal in a way that gives them a minimal cap hit in 2024, they may be able to make it happen.