ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The long offseason is officially over for Chris Jones, as the Chiefs defensive linemen officially arrived at training camp at 2 p.m., the deadline for arriving to camp on time.
A few fans awaited Jones in the parking lot outside the dormitory, but Jones went directly inside to report for camp.
Jones skipped the entirety of the club's offseason program, both the voluntary and mandatory portions of the workouts. Jones racked up $88,650 fines for skipping the club's mandatory minicamp in June. He faced a fine of $40,000 per day for not reporting to camp on time, per the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association.
Jones is entering the fourth and final year of his rookie contract, which comes with a base salary of $1,199,714 for the 2019 season. Jones is reportedly seeking a long-term extension with the Chiefs to avoid a potential franchise tag next offseason.
ESPN's Adam Schefter earlier on Friday quoted Jones' agents, brothers Jason and Michael Katz, as confirming Jones would appear at camp on time.
“Per the Katz brothers regarding Chris Jones, who is now reporting to camp on time: 'He knows his value and if he has to play out his deal in order to reach free agency, then that’s what he will do. For now, he’s focused on winning a Super Bowl for Kansas City,'” Schefter reported.
Head coach Andy Reid expressed no certainty on Tuesday whether he expected Jones to report for camp on time.
“Our people have talked with Chris' people and there's been communication there, and so we'll just see if he's here or not here,” Reid said Tuesday afternoon as the team's rookies, quarterbacks and injured players reported to camp. “We obviously want him here, and I think he probably wants to be here too, but we'll see how all of that works out.”
