The fate of Chris Jones 2023 edition

[TribalElder]

Appears the Chiefs and Chris Jones are at the beginning of a contract dispute



Speculation has been that the two sides are "far apart" on a deal

So Chiefs Planet.... how do we think this will play out (poll coming)

Will the Chiefs pay up and meet Chris Jones demands? If so, how much will it end up costing?

Will the Chiefs not be able to meet Chris Jones demands and end up trading him? If so, what kind of haul can we expect?

I've really loved watching Chris Jones wreck shit for the Chiefs, it always sucks when the business side of the NFL forces teams into tough decisions.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by -King-

Isn't that what Mahomes deal was supposed to help us do?

No, it's not the same as creating space to roll it over to make the actual hit less, I don't think the Chiefs have really exploited that to much to be honest.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Browns have been ahead of the curve on this for years.

— Marcus Whitman (@TFG_Football) August 21, 2023

The Browns are clearing space to alter Garretts number each year, it's actually brilliant.

The Browns aren't 'ahead of the curve' nor is this a novel thought.

It's something the Saints have been doing for a decade+ and yeah, you can keep on pushing, but the Saints have had nasty cap sheets for a long time and sooner or later you do run out of rope.

Moreover, you lose leverage with the player. Suddenly they're sitting on a $50 million cap charge one year and you say "Hey, can we get you to reduce that to $15 million" and they say "Oh sure - if you add 2 years at $20 million/season on the back of it..."

It's okay to do here and there. It's NOT a good operating philosophy, IMO. It narrows your path to contention and puts a TON of pressure on the front office to continue to add quality players through the draft.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by -King-

Isn't that what Mahomes deal was supposed to help us do?

yes.

And they use it as needed.

That's why I say this has nothing to do with Hill. It has nothing to do with Clark. The Chiefs absolutely COULD make a Jones deal work - probably even at $30 million.

They don't want to because it's simply not smart.

They've placed a value on him, Jones isn't happy with that valuation, and he's overplaying his hand, IMO.

[Urc Burry]

Originally Posted by smithandrew051

I hope I’m wrong, but let’s not expect too much for trade comp if/when that happens.

He’s a DT approaching 30 and wants big (ridiculous) money. Don’t expect a ton in return for that.

Ehh. He’d quite easily get top 15 pick in the draft value.

Which is roughly what Tyreek fetched. At roughly the same age, and at a better aging position

[-King-]

Originally Posted by tredadda

I doubt a one time $7.5 million is all that separates them. I would bet it's structure as much if not more than straight numbers.

Yeah I wish we had some leaks as to what was being offered and what was being demanded.

I do think that if the Chiefs were making a substantial effort to give him a good number and it was rebuffed, they would have leaked what they were offering. Like they did with the OBJ negotiation.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The Browns aren't 'ahead of the curve' nor is this a novel thought.

It's something the Saints have been doing for a decade+ and yeah, you can keep on pushing, but the Saints have had nasty cap sheets for a long time and sooner or later you do run out of rope.

Moreover, you lose leverage with the player. Suddenly they're sitting on a $50 million cap charge one year and you say "Hey, can we get you to reduce that to $15 million" and they say "Oh sure - if you add 2 years at $20 million/season on the back of it..."

It's okay to do here and there. It's NOT a good operating philosophy, IMO. It narrows your path to contention and puts a TON of pressure on the front office to continue to add quality players through the draft.

The Saints problem is they refuse to blow it up even when it's obvious their window closed. Had they just ate it for a year when Brees retired they could have fixed the problem but they refuse.

[old_geezer]

Originally Posted by -King-

Well that's completely ignoring the value of a elite DT compared to an elite Center.

As I said earlier I'd rather have a young and elite duo of Creed and Smith protecting Mahomes than maybe 2 years of elite D-line play from Jones. I think they're move valuable to the team's overall success.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by old_geezer

As I said earlier I'd rather have a young and elite duo of Creed and Smith protecting Mahomes than maybe 2 years of elite D-line play from Jones. I think they're move valuable to the team's overall success.

Creed and Trey together likely won't sniff what Jones is asking for.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by TwistedChief

Of course they are. Chris Jones was a top-3 defensive player in the league last year. He made everyone else on that DL better than they’d almost certainly be in isolation. He absolutely was crucial in a number of games and a number of situations for us.

To say no one guy is worth that much to a team? Of course they can be. We won a SB by the slimmest of margins. We got the 1 seed via the slimmest of margins. He anchored our defense.

I’m not saying there’s no world where we win a SB without Chris Jones this year, but our odds go down meaningfully. We weren’t that far ahead of the pack that we can afford to lose our best defensive player without the ability to suitably replace him and expect to be the same.

We also went through the entire playoff run with our QB on one leg which without a doubt made every game more difficult.

We lost most of our WR core in the AFCCG on top of it.

So yea, if everything goes to shit we have to scramble to win a game. But lets not act like we struggled just to be struggling.

WR room SHOULD be deeper this year. OL should be better this year. We may have to score a few more points but we SHOULD be able to.

[kcgreene]

Originally Posted by Mecca

The Saints problem is they refuse to blow it up even when it's obvious their window closed. Had they just ate it for a year when Brees retired they could have fixed the problem but they refuse.

Part of the problem with blowing it up in their situation is that it will likely be a 2 year process to get back to a decent cap situation, and with the NFC South being as weak as it is, they can reasonably make the playoffs. Hard to blow it up when your division is easily the weakest in the league and a ticket to the playoffs is easy.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by -King-

Yeah I wish we had some leaks as to what was being offered and what was being demanded.

I do think that if the Chiefs were making a substantial effort to give him a good number and it was rebuffed, they would have leaked what they were offering. Like they did with the OBJ negotiation.

I think they leaked that stuff with the Brown Jr situation because, while they were willing to keep him, they knew his demands were ridiculous and they were more than willing to let him walk. He did and the league humbled him as KC knew they would. Jones is different as I truthfully believe they want to keep him at the right price. Leaking numbers and demands only creates more bad blood and lessens the chance at a deal more.

I agree that if we knew the numbers it would be easier to know for sure.

[duncan_idaho]

The hard thing to see is what Jones thinks he's doing on his end.

KC won't go to the dollar amount he wants? OK. Your options are:

1) Go kick ass while clearing $20M in cash in a contract year (with a better supporting cast around you) and then cash in next season with a team that WILL give you what you want (either on a tag and trade or a straight FA walk, because the team can't REALLY afford to keep you on the tag).
2) Hold out of preseason, costing yourself about $2M, then go kick ass in a contract year after getting into shape. Probably costs you a little bit in what you get if your numbers are down, but not a LOT.
3) HAve a significant, protracted holdout. Come into the season mid-year, have to play your way into shape, and believe that you can make enough happen in the postseason to get the big deal you're seeking.
4) Sit out the whole year and not have your year of service time recognized. Get traded next year and hope some team is willing to give you the deal you want when you'll have 18 months between games.

How he is trending towards (3) is wild to me.

[Wallcrawler]

Originally Posted by O.city

So we’re ok letting an elite pass rusher go to sign a center and a guard

I’m not really sure the value checks there

They protect the most important player on the team, genius.

Are you secretly Jim Irsay?

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by kcgreene

Part of the problem with blowing it up in their situation is that it will likely be a 2 year process to get back to a decent cap situation, and with the NFC South being as weak as it is, they can reasonably make the playoffs. Hard to blow it up when your division is easily the weakest in the league and a ticket to the playoffs is easy.

Is it worth it to keep kicking that can over and over to sneak into the playoffs and get wrecked?

And they were also still doing that when Tampa was a legit contender with Brady, it just makes very little sense.

[FringeNC]

Originally Posted by TribalElder

came here to post that same thing

It's over

CJ ****ed this up so bad I feel awful for him

I think the chance of a long-term contract is over, but what does either side do *this* year? If Jones holds out he costs himself serious money. Do the Chiefs want a disgruntled player? Is there a trade market given his contract demands?