The Kansas City Chiefs are back-to-back Super Bowl champions. While players will be celebrating for weeks, the Chiefs’ front office is looking ahead to the NFL offseason calendar and what moves must be made to become the first NFL team to three-peat.
Fortunately for Kansas City, it has one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history entering his age-29 season and he is supported by one of the youngest defenses in the NFL. However, two critical pieces to the Chiefs’ defense that helped the team win the Super Bowl are headed for NFL free agency.
Related: Kansas City Chiefs could make huge addition to coaching staff
The price tags for keeping All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones and top cornerback L’Jarius Sneed won’t be cheap. Even when factoring in a restructured contract for Mahomes, which will provide Kansas City with significant cap savings, retaining both Sneed and Jones has been considered unlikely.
However, amid a strong belief that Super Bowl LVIII might’ve been Jones’ last game in a Chiefs uniform, there appears to be hope for Kansas City.
Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter said the Chiefs “are gonna run it back” with most of the talent from the Super Bowl roster and he does not believe Jones will be leaving Kansas City.
“Chris Jones, by the way, I know he’ll want to get paid of course. But there’s certainly a bond there. You can see the way that he and Andy Reid were acting after the game. I don’t think he’s going to want to leave unless there’s some huge difference in offers between Kansas City and somewhere else. And the Chiefs value him, they want him back. To me, yeah they’re going to run it back with a lot of this team intact.”
Adam Schefter on whether or not the Kansas City Chiefs re-sign Chris Jones
Related: Kansas City Chiefs free agent targets 2024
Retaining Jones is the Chiefs’ biggest priority this offseason. Not only is he beloved in the locker room and a critical part of Steve Spagnuolo’s defense, but he also has a penchant for making game-deciding plays in the playoffs and especially the Super Bowl.
Keeping Jones would likely cost the Chiefs at least $30 million per season, at least based on the early 2024 NFL salary cap projections. If Kansas City can find a way to retain both Jones and Sneed, it will be a heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl in 2025.
