Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones is seeing a contract extension that makes him at least the second highest-paid player at his position according to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor on March 2.
Taylor gave another update on Jones’ extension talks with the Chiefs on May 17, this time getting yet again into specifics of a potential new deal between the two parties.
The sack that sent the Bengals packing courtesy of Chris Jones! ???? pic.twitter.com/s780hAFiaX
— Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) March 13, 2023
“Such a deal could be a three- or four-year extension, according to multiple league sources,” Taylor wrote. Among the reasons the Chiefs were cap-strapped this offseason was Jones’ contract. He is in the final year of his four-year, $80 million deal with Kansas City and has a $28.2 million cap hit for the 2023 season according to Over The Cap.
The best way to lower his cap number for at least the 2023 season would be to hand Jones, 28, a contract extension, which would give him yet another payday but would also push his cap hits down the road.
Kansas City would eventually have to address those cap hits as it has to this off-season under Jones’ current deal. But an extension would provide cap relief for the team for the next year or two.
That’s one of the reasons why a three- or four-year extension would be the best way for the Chiefs to give Jones an extension. Doing so could push his larger cap hits into 2024 and beyond, and could also put Kansas City in a situation where Jones is playing out the final prime years of his career with the Chiefs before he’s due for a new contract.
That would then give the Chiefs more leverage when he’s due for his next contract, as that might happen when Jones is either 31 or 32 years old (depending on the actual length of his upcoming extension).
