KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a self-imposed hiatus to secure a more-prosperous contract, the CEO of Sack Nation has returned to Chiefs Kingdom.
All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who has led the Kansas City Chiefs in sacks each of the last five seasons, ended his holdout Monday and will rejoin the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Jones, 29, sat out the Chiefs’ entire offseason and Kansas City's season-opening loss to Detroit as he sought a new contract, which he hoped would make him at least the second-highest paid defensive tackle in NFL history.
It's unclear if he achieved that goal, but he may get another chance in the offseason.
Jones, who spoke with reporters at charity event last week, reportedly agreed to terms on a reworked one-year deal with “multiple incentives to earn considerably more money,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Jones — a 6-foot-6, 310-pound four-time Pro Bowler — was in the last year of a four-year, $80-million deal he signed before the 2020 season.
He was at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium last week for Thursday's loss to the Lions, sitting in a suite with his agents.
Kansas City's defense only allowed 14 points but also only produced one sack in Jones' absence.
The new agreement, which the Chiefs confirmed Monday, doesn’t add any additional years to the contract, so Jones is still set to become a free agent in the offseason, but it does mean he ought to return to practice and could be available as soon as Sunday’s game at Jacksonville.
“Chris is an elite player in this league, and over the last seven years, he's really developed into a leader on our team," Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach said in a statement. "He's been instrumental to our success and Super Bowl championship runs, and it was a priority for us to keep him in a Chiefs uniform. I'd like to thank Chris and his representation, Michael and Jason Katz, for their desire and patience to get this done. Through this process two things were obvious, Chris wanted to be a Chief, and the Katz brothers worked diligently on his behalf."
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald — who signed a three-year, $95 million contract last offseason after his own Super Bowl win — has a higher average annual contract value ($31.7 million) among interior defensive linemen.
That dwarfs the mega deal New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams signed — four years at $96 million, or $24 million per season with $66 million guaranteed — earlier this summer.
Jones, a second-round pick from Mississippi State in the 2016 NFL Draft, was believed to be seeking a multi-year deal with an average somewhere between Donald and Williams.
Instead, Jones, who emerged as a budding star in his third NFL season, will report to the team and faces the prospect of a possible franchise tag next offseason.
If Kansas City were to use the tag, it would guarantee Jones a massive salary, but risks another holdout as he and his agents, the Katz brothers, continue to push for a long-term deal.
It also would open up the possibility of a tag-and-trade scenario similar to the deal the Chiefs swung before the 2019 season to bring defensive end Frank Clark to town on a massive deal.
Jones recorded 15 1/2 sacks with 19 tackles for a loss and 29 quarterback hits in 2018, his breakout third season.
But after playing every game in those first three seasons, Jones’ production dipped and injuries piled up over the next three years.
He missed seven games from 2019 to 2021 and never recorded more than nine sacks, though he still led the team’s pass rush.
Nonetheless, Kansas City rewarded Jones with a long-term deal in 2020.
Spurred by the addition of defensive line coach Joe Cullen last season, Jones seemed reborn as one of the NFL's most singularly dominant defensive players, matching his career-high with 15 1/2 sacks and becoming a finalist for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Jones, who ranks eighth in Chiefs history with 65 career sacks, also tied his career-best for QB hits (29), finished with a career-high 44 tackles and recorded the first two postseason sacks of his career without missing any games.
After helping Kansas City win its second Super Bowl and third AFC title in four seasons, Jones wanted to cash in with what’s likely to be the biggest payday of his career, prompting his decision not to participate in mandatory minicamp or report to training camp at Missouri Western for the first time in his eight-year NFL career.
It could happen all over again next offseason, but the bigger news — at least on Monday — is that Jones is back for foreseeable future as the Chiefs eye becoming the first repeat Super Bowl champions in 19 seasons (2003-04 New England).
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