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.

[kcgreene]

Originally Posted by O.city

I mean, no. He's been Aaron Donalds equal the last couple years, last year specifically.

The year that Aaron Donald was injured for over a third of the year?

Chris Jones has 2 double digit sack seasons in 7 seasons.

Aaron Donald has 6 in 9 seasons (2 of those less than 10 being in his first 3 seasons, the other being last year when he was hurt)

These are not the same player.

Even if Jones was better last year, Jones was never as good as prime Aaron Donald.

I'll probably get crucified on here for this opinion, but Chris Jones and 3x DPOY Aaron Donald do not have the same impact on their relative teams. Aaron Donald was a substantially better DT than Chris Jones when he got his contract, hence why he basically made 50% more than the 2nd highest paid at the position when he extended (31.6M AAV vs. 20M AAV)

This is literally why everyone says Jones is the best DT in the game not named Aaron Donald, and this is why I cannot willingly justify paying them basically the same in my mind. Because Aaron Donald when he received that contract was not just the best DT in football, he was one of the greatest defensive players of all time.

The man literally has the same number of DPOY awards as Lawrence Taylor did. To act as if Jones is equal is short-sighted, and only looking at a one year dataset.

Yes Donald dropped off last year because of injury, and that contract looked bad because of it, but it still doesn't change how good he was when he got that contract.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by OKchiefs

Problem is, let’s say hypothetically they let Jones play out his contract and walk next year. You can tag and trade, but he’s taking up most of the salary cap until he is traded and it hurts your ability to sign other free agents.

You can let him walk but then the roster is almost completely void of talent at DT and you don’t have any additional picks to help address the position. Left tackle is very likely your top need (again) so can you really use your 1st at DT when QB1s blind spot protection is in question again? You’d have to hope 1-2 of Leonard Williams, Christian Wilkins, or DJ Reader are available as the top FA options on the market outside of Jones. Of course they’ll all likely command large contracts, so are they that much lower than Jones that it’s worth it to not just extend Jones?

Chiefs have about $50m in cap space next year at this time, and that's prior to what I expect will be a Joe Thuney extension.

If you tag Jones, you still have lots of room to party in free agency. You also get a half dozen teams willing to pay Tyreek Hill-sized deals to us for him.

I don't know the arguments that are going on behind closed doors, but the Chiefs have got to be considering that at this time.

[Balto]

Can anyone confirm the tag amount? Heard $30 and have heard $20'ish from even "experts" on tv.

Also I think Veach has to at least put Jones availability out there now for teams to bid on. Never know if a team will come in with a crazy offer.

I'd look at Washington or Lions IMO.

[TLO]

I just saw someone getting a police escort to Missouri Western State University.

IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING!!!!

[VAGOMO 4 LIFE!]

Originally Posted by TLO

I just saw someone getting a police escort to Missouri Western State University.

IT MIGHT BE HAPPENING!!!!

That’s a lie

[BIG_DADDY]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Chiefs have about $50m in cap space next year at this time, and that's prior to what I expect will be a Joe Thuney extension.

If you tag Jones, you still have lots of room to party in free agency. You also get a half dozen teams willing to pay Tyreek Hill-sized deals to us for him.

I don't know the arguments that are going on behind closed doors, but the Chiefs have got to be considering that at this time.

I strongly agree. If CJ is stuck at 30 this makes way more sense whether you tag or tag and trade.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by O.city

This definitely makes the next couple of years alot easier contractually, we don't really have to worry about signing any defensive players to extensions.

You really gonna just keep continually exaggerating everyone's stance endlessly?

I've already said to pay the man, but if we end up having to do something different after this season, for some odd reason I trust Veach and company to get it right. I dunno maybe its just me.

Its not like they stopped trying to draft defensive impact players since Jones became an All Pro.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!

That’s a lie

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by O.city

Yes, I think taking a DPOY candidate off the defense, in the current AFC landscape, makes them non superbowl contenders. Pat and the offense may go nuclear and win a playoff game or two I supposed, but they can't win the SB with the defense minus Jones.

Had they done it pre draft and FA, sure, they could have filled some spots.

Not now.

well... you're wrong.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Mecca

You're overrating Jones a bit as a player...the only player not being here that would ruin us is Mahomes.

I would say Kelce hurts super bowl chances far more than Jones. The offense is designed around Kelce.

Now, if we have three of the WRs emerge as legit high end players (skyy, james, rice, toney or Ross), then that changes things quite a bit.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!

That’s a lie

Do you have a tweet confirming it's a lie?

[TLO]

Originally Posted by MAHOMO 4 LIFE!

That’s a lie

No, that's definitely what I saw.

[Shoes]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Everyone points to the Bengals game. Yes Chris had an amazing game, but everyone helped. Danna played well, Frank played well, Karlaftis played well for the most part, Spags created nice designs (Willie Gay sack).

"We don't win that game without Chris". Sure but the offense was seriously hampered. Mahomes couldn't move and we lost Toney, Juju and Watson. He basically had Kemp and rookie Skyy out there at WR. The offense was injured and it showed.

Despite that Mahomes still balled with MVS. But yes if we had one of Juju or Toney and Mahomes isn't hurt, we blow them out to the ****ing water. We were on pace too until Mahomes weird fumble.

And keep in mind that Jones and others dominated a backup Bengals OL. Their starting tackles and G were all out.

Chris didn't really do anything in the SB either. Bottom line this team runs on Mahomes, Andy and Kelce. It's always been this way.

Chris Jones has a very large domino effect on the defense in a multitude of different ways. Lets take a look at his double team rate and his effectiveness against double teams:

Double team rate at defensive tackle (x) by pass rush win rate at defensive tackle (y) for the 2022 NFL season.

(ESPN / NFL Next Gen Stats) pic.twitter.com/wXJS0c5CdV

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 13, 2023

Not only is Chris Jones amongst the highest double teamed defensive tackle, he is by far and away the most effective at winning through a double team. What this does for the Chiefs is a couple of different things:

1- Allows their edge rushers more 1 on 1 matchups. I think this point is particularly important because our edge rushers are so young. I think it gives them a better opportunity to develop their technique and allow them success early on at the NFL level.

2. A higher sense of predictability against other teams protection schemes. Not many teams are going to give Chris Jones a 1 on 1 matchup on 3rd and long. If you understand where the protection or help for the guard is coming from, it is easier to scheme pressure. Spags I think has done a really good job of this, especially last season.

3. Allows the Chiefs to rush 4 more often with success, which gives the secondary more bodies in coverage.

You'll see games where Jones doesn't have the splash plays or lights up the stat sheet but I guarantee you the attention he draws week in and week out allows other players easier matchups so they can shine.

The only real knock on Chris Jones is that he isn't a fantastic run defender. I think the games against the Bengals in which we've lost in the past is because their offense has done a nice job in staying ahead of the sticks and being in manageable down & distances. Signings like Brandon Williams, Danny Shelton or draft picks like Nnadi & Saunders (pure run defender + space eater) are because the Chiefs need a DT to be paired with Jones that can compliment him nicely. This defense is designed to rush the passer and get pressure on the QB, we just got to get to 3rd and 7+.

A few of us have discussed this in the draft forum. The Chiefs are on the cusp of being on par with the greatest dynasties in NFL history and Chris Jones needs to be on the roster for us to do that. We are in a Super Bowl window, and although we were able to mitigate the loss of Tyreek Hill, I don't think we have the players on defense to make up for the loss of Chris Jones.

[TribalElder]

[emaw1979]

Originally Posted by Shoes

Chris Jones has a very large domino effect on the defense in a multitude of different ways. Lets take a look at his double team rate and his effectiveness against double teams:

Double team rate at defensive tackle (x) by pass rush win rate at defensive tackle (y) for the 2022 NFL season.

(ESPN / NFL Next Gen Stats) pic.twitter.com/wXJS0c5CdV

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) January 13, 2023

Not only is Chris Jones amongst the highest double teamed defensive tackle, he is by far and away the most effective at winning through a double team. What this does for the Chiefs is a couple of different things:

1- Allows their edge rushers more 1 on 1 matchups. I think this point is particularly important because our edge rushers are so young. I think it gives them a better opportunity to develop their technique and allow them success early on at the NFL level.

2. A higher sense of predictability against other teams protection schemes. Not many teams are going to give Chris Jones a 1 on 1 matchup on 3rd and long. If you understand where the protection or help for the guard is coming from, it is easier to scheme pressure. Spags I think has done a really good job of this, especially last season.

3. Allows the Chiefs to rush 4 more often with success, which gives the secondary more bodies in coverage.

You'll see games where Jones doesn't have the splash plays or lights up the stat sheet but I guarantee you the attention he draws week in and week out allows other players easier matchups so they can shine.

The only real knock on Chris Jones is that he isn't a fantastic run defender. I think the games against the Bengals in which we've lost in the past is because their offense has done a nice job in staying ahead of the sticks and being in manageable down & distances. Signings like Brandon Williams, Danny Shelton or draft picks like Nnadi & Saunders (pure run defender + space eater) are because the Chiefs need a DT to be paired with Jones that can compliment him nicely. This defense is designed to rush the passer and get pressure on the QB, we just got to get to 3rd and 7+.

A few of us have discussed this in the draft forum. The Chiefs are on the cusp of being on par with the greatest dynasties in NFL history and Chris Jones needs to be on the roster for us to do that. We are in a Super Bowl window, and although we were able to mitigate the loss of Tyreek Hill, I don't think we have the players on defense to make up for the loss of Chris Jones.

Maybe he was double-teamed because of the edges he played with. He's by far and away the best lineman on the team, but I think the gap has a lot to do with the lack of pass-rush talent around him than him being that great.

I'd rather the Chiefs let it ride this year with his contract and let Jones walk next year than sign him to a 30 mil a year contract at 29. If he were 26, I'd be willing to listen, but not in a 3rd contract at 29 years old.