KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For six months, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has been optimistic regarding the club’s relationship with superstar Chris Jones, and he steadfastly maintains that positive outlook with the opening of the season in eight days and no signs of the defensive tackle’s holdout ending anytime soon.
“I mean, listen, I’m certainly hopeful for that,” Veach said Wednesday when asked if he expected Jones to play in next Thursday’s season opener against Detroit. “We have been in communication, and actually, just the last few days, we’ve been in more communication. So we’re going to continue to press on and work hard and a lot of respect on both sides of this thing.”
Jones, who recently posted on social media an intention to report in Week 8, continued his cryptic use of social media Wednesday evening. Shortly after Veach’s press conference with reporters, Jones posted on Instagram an image of himself sitting on the Kansas City sideline during a game.
The situation escalated Tuesday when the Chiefs placed Jones on the reserve/did not report list. The procedural move allows the Chiefs to keep Jones off the 53-player roster, and it means his $19.5 million 2023 base salary won’t apply to the team’s salary cap during his holdout. Wednesday marked the 40th day of Jones’ holdout, meaning he has now racked up $2 million in fines, and faces more $50,000 daily fines if he doesn’t report by Sunday.
Yet Veach says nothing has changed regarding the team’s feelings for Jones and vice versa.
“It’s been obviously well stated how we feel about Chris and he feels the same way,” Veach said. “So again, we’re just going to keep working on this thing. We’re looking forward to next Thursday, and hopefully, he’s in the lineup, and he’s ready to go.”
Yet the Chiefs actions may speak louder than words. On Tuesday Veach pulled the trigger on a trade with the Los Vegas Raiders, acquiring defensive tackle Neil Farrell in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick.
“He’s six-four and change, and he’s just a bigger, longer body,” Veach said in describing Farrell. At 6-foot-4, 325 pounds, he’s bulkier than the 6-foot-6 Jones, who now weighs under 300. The Chiefs are currently carrying four defensive tackles on the active roster with Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn Wharton and Keondre Coburn joining Farrell, and they now have three more on the practice squad with Matt Dickerson, Danny Shelton and Chris Williams.
It certainly seems like the Chiefs are preparing for life without Jones, or at least with Jones limited on how much he can contribute after missing all the club’s offseason workout and the entirety of training camp.
“We’re working hard and our hopes are to get Chris in here as soon as possible,” Veach said. “And we continue to work through that. You know, there’ll be an acclamation phase for him.
Jones is entering the last year of a four-year, $80 million contract signed in 2020. The 29-year-old Jones is seeking a contract extension, and it’s believed he’s seeking a contract on par with the deal defensive tackle Aaron Donald signed last year with the Los Angeles Rams. That three-year, $95 million deal included $46.5 million guaranteed at signing with an annual average value of $31.67 million.
But the second-richest defensive tackle contract in the league belongs to Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets. Last month he signed a four-year, $96 million extension with $47.84 million guaranteed at signing with an annual average value of $24.5 million.
That’s a gap of more than $7 million per year, and pegging a value for Jones that satisfies both sides remains elusive. Neither the Chiefs nor Jones’ representation, Katz Brothers Sports, has gone public with negotiations, and Veach declined to do so again Wednesday.
“We’ve been in communications and I think, I like to keep all of those communications between us and them just out of respect for the whole process and in the hopes that we can continue to work to get something done,” Veach explained.
