ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Three days remain before veterans report to training camp for the Chiefs, but head coach Andy Reid offered no clarity Tuesday on whether defensive lineman Chris Jones would join his teammates in the dorms at Missouri Western State University.
“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.”
Jones skipped the team's offseason program including both voluntary OTA practices and the team's mandatory minicamp. The 25-year-old lineman is ostensibly holding out for a new contract, but Jones nor his agents have spoken publicly regarding contract demands.
While Jones has posted videos of his workouts on social media, the Chiefs enter the 2019 season with a new scheme under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. That makes it a bigger deal if Jones doesn't arrive on time for training camp.
“I've said this before, you miss days you miss days,” Reid said. “And this is a unique situation in that we've had a change in the defense and so on. It's probably beneficial to be here.”
Skipping the minicamp left Jones subject to $88,650 in fines. Holding out during training camp carries a penalty of $40,000 per day. He's entering the fourth-year of his rookie contract with a base salary of $1,199,714 for the 2019 season.
Jones must report to camp by Aug. 6 in order to earn an accrued season toward free agency. If he doesn't report before then, Jones would enter next offseason as a restricted free agent rather than as potentially an unrestricted free agent.
