Travis Kelce admits he doesn’t fully understand defensive tackle Chris Jones’ decision to engage in a holdout. Kelce just wants his teammate back with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“Chris, can you please come back?” the star tight end said on his New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast. “You’re really scaring me, man. I don’t get it. You must know something that I don’t know because I just don’t get it. I really want to get another Super Bowl ring with you, brother. This is me bargaining you to just come back and play football for the Chiefs. Please, we need you. We need you bad, and I don’t know what the situation is.
“He’s just the best defensive player in the league right now. He’s deserving of all the money in the world. Chris, I love you. Please come back now.”
A four-time Pro Bowl selection and a 2022 first-team All-Pro, Jones has one season remaining on the four-year, $80 million contract he signed with the Chiefs in 2020. He’s scheduled to make a base salary of $19.5 million this season.
Jones, 29, recently threatened over social media to extend his holdout to as far as Week 8 if negotiations don’t improve. He currently is on the reserve/did not report list.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Friday he doesn’t take issue with Jones’ decision to stay away from the team.
“Chris has chosen to go this route,” Reid said. “Some other guys have chosen to get their deals done and come in and play. I’m not here to criticize one way or the other. We’ve had a lot of success with the guys that we have and we go with it.
“Other than that, I take the distractions and throw them out the door and let’s get on with what’s real.”
What’s real is the Chiefs open the season against the visiting Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Jones finished third in Defensive Player of the Year balloting last season after matching his career best of 15.5 sacks. The two-time Super Bowl champion has 65 sacks in 107 games (86 starts) over seven NFL seasons with the Chiefs.
–Field Level Media