Very possibly.

Depends on the FA market. They didn't tag OBJ because they wanted the flexibility to go into the market and snag Taylor and Omenihu. I mean for the tag price, they got Taylor, Omenihu, Tranquill AND Edwards. It's possible that none of those guys wait around for KC to finalize a trade if they don't enter the market with available cap space.

So yeah - it could work out that way.

That is among his best scenarios, but he still loses 8 game checks and $2mm for missed training camp. THEN, he is a near 31 yr old trying to negotiate that last big contract. Lost leverage. It's possible he balls out and would be fresher, but that magic is hard to recapture, especially if they are 5-3!

Yeah. Kinda my thoughts too.

It's why there's no way I'd try to let KC off the 33.5 million dollar tag hook. There's your leverage to hit FA unencumbered. Just makes no sense to me.

Thats why I think its all a charade. They know the Chiefs are in cap hell and thats their only leverage in hopes the Chiefs up their offer at the last minute. So if the Chiefs dont do so by the end of the day today Jones has to sign. If he does that then its hard to say it was a bad decision to not report. The idea to skip all of training camp to lose 2.2M to gain something like 4 to 6M in a contract extension makes sense but if it isnt there by 4pm it isnt there and you sign the extension and show up to play accordingly

There's no hope for a contract extension at this point. I'd say that ship sailed a while ago.

Lions winning week 1 would be an NFL buzz dream come true

If he sits out til week 8, doesn’t hit tag amount go down significantly? Might be able to do both.

Man he’s such an idiot if he continues to die on this hill.

This ESPN.com headline just totally mind****ed me.... had to read it over a couple times as I saw 'trade' and 'Jones' and 'star':

Panthers cut Jones, trade for K.C. preseason star

Yall think he's gone after this year?

Just as Chris was getting over the Chiefs letting Frank Clark walk they go and trade Omar Smith-Marquette

Pretty likely at this point.

I'd say that's pretty much a given at this point.

Come on CJ…get your ass in here!
You are risking your Sack Nation legacy…

I don't see his demands coming down at this point and Veach has already drawn his line in the sand on what he's willing to pay.

He will be 29, maybe 30 depending on when he starts negotiating said contract. Either way he'll be playing at 30 years old next season. But, I agree with your take.

Trade the sumbitch before FA starts. Veach can get that done at the combine. And yeah it's very possible. Russell Wilson was traded before FA

They would have the cap space to franchise tag Jones to trade him if they want to. According to OTC, they're set to have $52 million in cap space next year. They could always dip into Mahomes contract if they wanted to be players on day 1 while the Jones thing worked itself out.

This may just be me, but Chris getting a little pissy over Frank Clark being gone reminds me of when Justin Houston acted similarly about his pal Eric Berry being cut.

They've only got like 39 guys taking up the money, so it's not like they're just absolutely flush with cash.

It's just too much of an drain on the cap. They don't wanna pay him 27 a year, why would you do it for 33.5?

Is there any actual evidence that 1/ Jones was really hurt that Clark was cut or 2/ it's really impacted anything in his discussions with the team?

I think people are stretching to find reasons to dislike the guy.

Yeah, I don't really see the Clark thing.

Seems like Jones and his agent could be taking the same approach as Nick Bosa and his agent who also represented Joey Bosa when he did his deal.

Seems like both sides Jones and Chiefs have not breached protocol and leaked numbers.

This is why some of us advocating for trading CJ a long while ago. I remember his last contract negotiation, with him on Cowherd pissing and moaning "what do I have to do?!" And I remember him saying re: mahomes' contract "I don't know how you take a $500M contract and say you left money on the table."

Dude has been convinced he's underpaid his entire career, and it's poisoned his thinking. He was always going to be an absolute prick this time around.

Here's the thing: the only leverage Chris Jones has right now is not playing. And he has 100% leverage on that. he can't make the money go up, only down. His ONE available move here is to simply not play, not get paid, and the Chiefs are out a defensive star.

Once that happens, he is completely out of moves, and the leverage massively sways in the Chiefs' favor. It's really an all-or-nothing strategy.

We know why the Chiefs haven't done it.

You know why his agents haven't? Because they're trying to re-set the market getting him more gtd. money than even Donald got, but with an avg. yearly contract value of just a tick under what Donald has.

That way they can make the most money for themselves, their client and not make CJ look like a liar (which he basically has become at this point since he is letting his agents run point on this).

Again, I have no problem with players chasing the bag when they get their opportunity, but don't come out and say all the shit you have in public 'Chief for life', 'I won't play anywhere else but KC', etc. if you're gonna let your agents take the lead and do all your decision making for you at this point, which is what CJ is doing.

Tired of all the drama and ready to move on. If he reports, great, he can play this year. If he sits out till Week 8, great. He can play the second half and hopefully be fresh for the playoffs.

Tag and trade and move on after this season. Just done with it.

Guys don't come in late and be "fresh" though. You have to play football to be in shape to play football.

I wonder if that was a PR stunt early to sway public sentiment his way. If KC doesn't give in to his demands he can say that he's not on the Chiefs because of teh organization and not him.

My gut tells me he will be traded before the deadline, for less than what we think he's worth.

When it happens we need to appreciate what we get for him, and what he's done for this team.

He could be traded today or he could be traded in the offseason, but trading him at the deadline - unless Mahomes is out for the season - seems crazy to me.

Jones needs to fire his dumbass agents. He's pushing 30 and already losing millions on this holdout. Millions he is likely not going to make up in his next contract. KC can legit tell him to sit & spin for two weeks ($2.2M right there) after he joins the team, and not pay him on his existing contract. After that, they can franchise tag him....again. He still won't be making Aaron Donald money. He is leaving money on the table because of? Ego? Nah, his agents have not represented their client well at all.

Agreed.

That's why I said if he came in by Week 8, which is when he said he would report by (to accrue his season) then he could be fresh for the playoffs. (i.e. less wear and tear from a normal full NFL season)

No, he would not be 'fresh' and in football shape right away at Week 8. But it's reasonable to think he would be come playoff time (2 months later)

He would be fresh by playoff time, but his injury risk goes up, so it's kinda a double edged sword.

I'm not sure that it would. I mean, let's be honest. If he doesn't show up till Week 8, he's not playing right away. We know Andy and his M.O. They'll say 'he's getting things down and we'll play him when he's ready'. That first game would be in Denver at Mile High. He's not playing. Next week is Miami in Germany. Yeah, not happening. Then the Bye Week in week 10. So he's not playing a full NFL game till Week 11 at the earliest.

They'll treat those first 3 weeks like training camp and pre-season for him and then try and have him ready to go come Week 11 so he could be in 'football shape' by time he hits the field.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">last season with chris jones on the field:<br>•EPA/play: -0.01<br>•success rate: 38%<br><br>last season with chris jones off the field:<br>•EPA/play: 0.05<br>•success rate: 41%<br><br>this is equivalent to going from the 13th ranked defense to the 28th (obvious caveats about on/off splits apply)</p>&mdash; Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) <a href="https://twitter.com/tejfbanalytics/status/1696517418099568827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

How do you know anything about Jones and his agents decision-making?

You have 2022 DPOY Nick Bosa not reporting seeking an extension on his rookie deal. and you have 2022 DPOY finalist Chris Jones not reporting seeking an extension on his second contract.

Seems likely that both situations may resolve the same way.

Yikes!

Hell, that's not as bad as I thought it might be.

We've added FAU, Tranquill, eventually Omenihu and the rookies have gained a year of experience.

Could the EPA be in the 22-24 range without Jones based on slight improvements and additions over last year's squad? Y'know...that's not that unlikely.

This team can win a championship at/near merely below average on defense.

:shrug:

The real issue as I see it is that Jones comes off the field in run situations where the EPA/Play is naturally lower anyway. So there may be some static in the numbers that makes them appear rosier than they are.

I've got an absolute bulletin board full of ammunition for when some of you come squawking here in a bit to pay Bolton.

Don't think I won't use it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">he was especially impactful in the run game with the run defense going from allowing -0.11 EPA/rush (would be the 7th best run defense) to a 0.05 EPA/rush (would be the worst run defense in the league)*<br><br>*same caveats about on/off splits also apply here as well</p>&mdash; Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) <a href="https://twitter.com/tejfbanalytics/status/1696517420587077709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Hmm. That would be very bad.

How much of that was in garbage time?

I hope we can trade him and still win the SB but IDK.

While Jones is great this only talks about him being on the field. I'd like to see the numbers that Jones wasn't on the field on plays that were obviously going to be a run. Seems that's when Spags would rest Jones.

I forgot about the cap hit. My bad.

I will absolutely hate on a player who puts the teams success at risk because they are overvaluing their worth when they have made great money and would make great money if they accepted a fair offer.

No worries. He’s confident.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am confident <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chiefs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chiefs</a> GM, Brett Veach will push hard to get a deal done with Chris Jones today. Much is riding on his success! <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiefsBlitz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChiefsBlitz</a></p>&mdash; Chiefs Insider (@ChiefsInsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiefsInsider/status/1696532529577337097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We’re ****ed.

Today?!

That's highly optimistic.

See you week 8 CJ. (maybe)

Yeah, that was 3 hours ago. Bet he doesn't feel so confident with an hour and 45 left.

He needs Luca Brasi to help him sign contracts with players.

Well, we know his agent was in town getting BBQ on Saturday, so they were going to have a talk yesterday/today anyway. Maybe they are going to get a deal figured out.

Are we sure Jones was actually in town Saturday?

NEW CHRIS JONES DEAL AT 3000 POSTS!!! LETS GO!!!!

You think his agent came into town because he had to have the BBQ?

I hope they went to SLAPS. That's a new fave of mine.:drool:

I knew his agent was there, was Chris actually there as well?

You think Chris Jones himself needs to come to town and meet face to face to have contract negotiations? You think most difficult negotiations take place with the player in the room with his agent and the GM?

If there was BBQ involved, yes

Obviously we don't actually know where CJ was or is. But the fact that his agent was in town suggests that he was there to talk to Veach. No other reason to be there.

i mean, can you think of a legit reasonable purpose for his agent to be in KC this weekend, besides talking to Veach?

BBQ. Duh.

There's that of course. Probably they don't need Chris in the room. Don't they (the agents) normally just call the player in question with the news? I mean league-wide.

Well I bet it was fun for his agent to show up to be told in person that they aren't getting Donald money.

All this really comes down to is does Jones do what every other play would and show up and play out the year to hit FA next year or does he handle this like a complete idiot.

Lol, I admit I've travelled to KC just for the BBQ before. Back when I still lived in the Mid-West.

To me this would seem an obvious case of difficult negotiations where having the player - who feels he’s being undervalued by the organization - at arms length from the team would be beneficial. This is how and why agents make their money.

Veach showed CJ's agent on the Arrowhead jumbotron in big bold letters: NO TEAM IS GIVING YOUR CLIENT AARON DONALD $$$

Can someone put out the DoucheBat signal and summon DJBILL?

We all could use some explanation for what’s going on with CJ, even if it’s completely made up by an internet sociopath.

I thought that they typically gave you bad news over the phone?


His agent being town tells me that there's still negotiating to do.

I was going to say, at least that guy tells a good story, lol.

I don't ever recall him being out in front of a story. It's always after some details have (allegedly) emerged and he "fills in the gaps."

The negotiating is literally that agent telling Veach the Chiefs can't win the SB without Jones so they should meet his number.

"OK guys, don't attack the messenger! But I was cleaning my grill for Labor Day BBQ the other day when my neighbor, who's been with the Chiefs for years, wandered over and we started talking about homemade burnt ends. Well, at some point I worked up the courage to ask him about rumors of Chris Jones' agent being in KC at a BBQ restaurant, and my neighbor smiled and said, 'You will not believe what I'm about to tell you.' ...."

My hope is that Veach has a final offer, take it or leave it sorta deal. Hopefully CJ's agent takes it.

I think if they were gonna meet his number they would have already, I think the odds he gets a new deal are less than 5% now...the Chiefs however don't think he'll miss real games, no team would, only a total dipshit would flush millions to hurt his value.

Oh, I wasn't implying that Veach was going to go to $30 million/yr. But there's ways to sweeten a deal other than just raising the AAV, right? Go to $27 million (or basically attempt to meet in the middle), throw a signing bonus in there, add/subtract a year, or whatever.

They are hopefully close to some sort of decision one way or the other. At this point, however it gets resolved, they need to move forward.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Stay strong Veach! $24.5M or nothing!

I maintain that the only reason he’s still part of the team is that you never actually hit ‘send’ on that email to Veach with your 18,341 trade proposals.

<img src="https://i.ibb.co/KFBKR56/waiting.gif" alt="waiting" border="0">

Goddamnit!!! I wondered why Veach hadn't dealt MVS for a conditional 6th in 2027 yet! That was a foolproof plan!