Kansas City Chiefs fans are hoping that star pass rusher Chris Jones can miraculously change his stance and play in their Week 1 game on Thursday night, however, a new report does not give much hope for that happening.
Over the last five years, the Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the football world and are the NFL’s current dynasty team. Without a doubt, Patrick Mahomes has played a massive role in that success but tight end Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid have also gotten a fair share of attention for the team’s performance in recent years.
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However, the Chiefs’ much-maligned defense has delivered in some big moments as the team reached the Super Bowl in three of the last four years. And no athlete on that side of the ball played a bigger role than the postseason sack-master himself, Chris Jones.
The 29-year-old is in the final year of his current contract, and he looking to be rewarded for his importance to the franchise with a new long-term deal. However, he and the organization have made little progress in negotiations and it’s why he has been a holdout during team activities this summer.
Kansas City Chiefs next game: Sept. 7 vs. Detroit Lions
With the team set to kick off their 2023 regular season campaign on Thursday versus the Detroit Lions, there was hope that the Chiefs and Jones could finally end their stalemate. Unfortunately, it seems that despite a lot of positivity a deal would get done recently, NFL Media league insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that “Chris Jones isn’t present and won’t be at today’s practice — considered a Wednesday practice of game week — with the two sides not close on a deal.”
- Chris Jones stats (2022): 44 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 29 QB hits
It’s certainly disappointing news and since this will be a very short week for the Kansas City Chiefs, it is looking extremely unlikely Chris Jones will play in Week 1.
It was reported last week that the team allegedly offered a deal for three seasons at $74 million. That would not make him the highest-paid defensive lineman in the league (Aaron Donald $31 million annually), which is reportedly what Jones is looking for.
ESPN’s Tom Peliserro reported this week “Chris Jones racked up roughly $2 million in fines during his training camp holdout. He also gave up a $500,000 workout bonus. He would forfeit an additional $1,083,333 for each regular-season game missed.”