Chris Jones Hints at Dragging Holdout Deep Into Regular Season
As the Kansas City Chiefs continue preparing for the 2023 regular season, they're still doing so without the help of veteran defensive tackle Chris Jones. The star interior lineman's holdout hasn't ended yet, and Kansas City's regular-season opener against the Detroit Lions is just over two weeks away.
Jones, who has been relatively quiet publicly aside from some social media activity, posted a picture with a quote on X (formerly known as Twitter) Tuesday morning. A fan re-posted that same picture later on, also asking Jones when he's going to report to the team. Jones's reply: Week 8.
Through his holdout thus far, starting with the launch of training camp and including non-practice days in the financials, Jones has missed out on over $1 million due to a daily fine of $50,000 for not being with the team. He never reported to camp last month and even with the Chiefs now back at home for practices, he still isn't with them. Judging by strictly Jones's social media posts, he doesn't come off as too afraid of losing money for missed training camp practices, current work with the team or even game checks. Arrowhead Live pointed out how Jones would be on the books for "a hefty tab" if his holdout persisted until Week 8, and he responded by saying, "I can afford it."
Jones, who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting this past season, is under contract for the 2023-24 campaign with a salary cap hit of $28.3M. Negotiations between his camp and the Chiefs have yet to bridge the gap between Aaron Donald's defensive tackle-leading $31.7M average annual salary and Qunnen Williams' $24M mark that puts him in second place. According to Nate Taylor of The Athletic, Jones wants to be "at least the second-highest-paid player at his position" on a new deal.
In 2022, Jones turned in the best campaign of his career. Recording 44 tackles and 15.5 sacks, he was a constant force in the middle of Steve Spagnuolo's defensive front. Closing out multiple games for the Chiefs and improving as a run defender, Jones ascended into a tier with perhaps just Donald on his level. As the clock continues to tick on a long-term extension to get ironed out, things haven't been as positive as Jones was back in March regarding his future in Kansas City.
