Trading Chris Jones This Late in the Offseason Doesn’t Make Sense
It is late June, and Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones has still not signed his franchise tag.
Though it shouldn't be surprising that Jones is one of a small handful of players who haven’t signed his franchise tag, given the fact that Jones also sat out of most of last years offseason programs, it still doesn't inspire confidence in the chances of a long-term deal being finalized before the July 15 deadline. With there many negative reports about the state of the contract talks between the Chiefs and Jones, including this week's indication that Jones is likely looking for around $21 million annually, this begs the question: will the Chiefs trade Chris Jones?
Despite the negative aura surrounding the relationship between the Chiefs and Jones, they still have time before the signing deadline. Even with that time, COVID-19 and Patrick Mahomes' upcoming mega-deal might make the Chiefs approach any long-term deal with Jones with caution.
If the deadline comes and goes without a long-term deal, the Chiefs could still consider trading Jones. This option has been floated as a possibility for the Chiefs all offseason by reporters in the NFL media, with a lot of noise coming out around the draft that it was a very real possibility.
At this point in the offseason, however, trading Chris Jones does not make sense.
Any trade involving Jones will, most likely, have draft picks as the return for the Chiefs. In their trade for defensive tackle Deforest Buckner, the Indianapolis Colts sent a first-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers, setting the baseline for any trade involving Jones and draft picks. However, there is a key difference between a potential Chris Jones trade and the Buckner trade: Buckner was traded before the draft.
If the Chiefs do trade Jones during the offseason or preseason, there will be no opportunity to potentially fill his role on the defense in 2020. Meanwhile, the 49ers were able to draft former South Carolina defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw with the pick they got from trading Buckner. So while the 49ers did lose out on a great player, they at least were able to acquire a player with a similar skill set at a cheaper price.
If the Chiefs trade Jones, no player currently on the roster could even attempt to fill the hole his departure would leave, and it’s highly unlikely the Chiefs could find such a player in free agency. Even if the Chiefs could get a great haul for trading Jones, they would still have to wait until after the season to utilize these picks. This is the main reason there are not blockbuster trades after the draft and before the season starts.
The highest-profile players to be traded just before the season in the last few years were Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby and Jadeveon Clowney. Watkins was traded with a sixth-round pick for EJ Gaines and a second-round pick. Darby was traded for Jordan Matthews and a third-round pick.
Jadeveon Clowney was a prime example of this post-draft trade scenario playing out terribly. The reason these trades rarely work out is because the team that is acquiring the franchise-tagged player cannot extend the player past the current year due to the July 15 deadline for franchised player extensions. Last year, the Texans had a contract dispute back and forth with Clowney, much like the Chiefs are having with Jones, and ultimately the deadline passed. Due to that deadline passing, any team trading for Clowney was only guaranteed one year of Clowney instead of having the option of signing Clowney long-term. Due to this, the Texans only had enough leverage to get a third-round pick back for their former first-overall pick. The same drawback would apply to a trade for Jones if the July 15 deadline passes, and that will affect what kind of draft capital the Chiefs will get back.
What incentive do the Chiefs even have to trade Jones in a year they are the favorites to repeat as Super Bowl champions? Even if the Chiefs get a first-round pick back, no first-round pick in 2021 will help the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this year.
The only scenario where Jones would be traded before the season this year would come if Jones absolutely refuses to play on the tag and all contract talks are hopeless. Only then would the Chiefs trade Jones, and even in this scenario, the Chiefs will need an offer equal to Buckner’s compensation to move Jones.
“Never say never” is a good motto to live by, as the NFL has proven that unlikely scenarios can happen. The outcome of the ongoing Chris Jones situation will ultimately come down to Jones himself, as his decision to play on the tag or not will drive what happens to the star defensive lineman. One thing is clear in looking at the situation from the Chiefs' perspective: trading Jones now just doesn’t make much sense.
