Report: "No Negotiations or Discussions" Taking Place Between Chris Jones and Kansas City Chiefs
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, there have been "no negotiations or discussions" between the Kansas City Chiefs and Chris Jones since the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Jones on March 16.
This is a bit of a surprise, as Chiefs GM Brett Veach and Head Coach Andy Reid have publicly maintained a predominantly positive outlook on Jones' contract situation.
On May 1, Reid was asked about Jones and the quiet contract negotiations, and Reid struck an optimistic tone.
“I always look at communication. As long as there’s talk between the parties, I’m good with that. I have full trust in Brett [Veach] and his crew – [Director of Football Administration] Brandt Tilis and [Football Operations Counsel and Personnel Executive] Chris Shea. They stay on top of that. Then I think Chris’ [Jones] representation has done a nice job of keeping it open too. We understand, I think in this league, that these bigger deals take a little time. Now Chris has got a time restriction on his, but they do take time. You’ve got to massage through the thing and work it out and talk, and that’s what they’re doing. I’m sure it will all work out in the end. I appreciate the communication that’s going on without being directly involved in it.”
Veach was also asked about the contractual futures of Jones and Patrick Mahomes after the conclusion of the NFL Draft, and Veach indicated that he was also largely optimistic about both deals getting done.
“I would like to think that we’re fairly confident, and we have a lot of time. (They’re) cornerstones in this organization. We do have some time, and now that the draft is over, and the free agency period here with the pandemic and the virtual draft, there was certainly a lot of distractions. But now that this is behind us here, we have a window now that we can kind of reset as an organization. We have a lot of time and this will be the focus of where we are to make sure we get these guys locked up and head into training camp, whenever that is, ready to rock and roll. Again, you can never put a definitive answer on anything, but we are certainly hopeful and confident, and we’re going to put in a lot of work from now until the start of camp.”
The Chiefs and Jones have until July 15 to work out a long-term contract extension.
