While the extensions for Daron Payne, Jeffery Simmons and Dexter Lawrence would seem to give Quinnen Williams a clear road map toward a Jets extension, Chris Jones‘ Chiefs talks look more complex.
Jones mounted a threat to be labeled the NFL’s best defensive tackle last season. Given his 2022 performance, value to the Chiefs and Aaron Donald missing a chunk of his age-31 season due to injury, this can at least be debated for the first time in ages. Set to turn 29 in July, Jones is three years younger than the Rams’ all-time great. If nothing else, Jones has a clear claim to being the league’s best non-Donald inside pass rusher and has held that spot for a bit now. At $20MM per year, Jones is currently the NFL’s eighth-highest-paid defensive tackle.
Although Jones sailed to first-team All-Pro acclaim for the first time by matching his career high with 15.5 sacks during a season in which Donald missed five games, ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher notes the dominant Chiefs D-tackle may not be looking to move past the 10th-year Ram’s $31.7MM-per-year number. That figure remains the league’s most lucrative for a defender — by a wide margin. Jones is, however, aiming to top every other D-tackle deal. The notable question here: by how much?
Even after the above-referenced three young DTs’ extensions, Donald’s outlier contract — a straight raise the Rams authorized after a retirement threat — leads the pack by more than $8MM per year. Simmons did secure more fully guaranteed money than Donald, though he did so on a contract that ties him to the Titans for four additional years. Donald did not add any years to his contract but still received $46.5MM guaranteed at signing. Considering Jones’ importance to the Chiefs’ defense, he should be in line to push for a deal far north of Simmons’ $23.5MM-per-year pact.
Kansas City has made some payroll adjustments since extending Patrick Mahomes. The team did not offer Tyrann Mathieu an extension, letting his $14MM-per-year deal expire, and passed on making Tyreek Hill the league’s highest-paid wide receiver. It would seem Jones remains a priority, however. A second extension has been on the radar for months. Andy Reid confirmed (via Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons) at minicamp — one Jones did not attend, incurring a minor fine — Chiefs GM Brett Veach has been in discussions with Jones’ camp.
In 2020, the Chiefs locked down Mahomes and Travis Kelce on team-friendly extensions but paid top-market money for Jones, who is entering the final season of a four-year, $80MM deal. The sides finalized that contract just before the 2020 franchise tag deadline. Simmons, Payne, Lawrence, Leonard Williams and Javon Hargrave have since topped it. The Chiefs would have the option of franchise-tagging Jones for a second time, but that number would check in higher than the standard 2024 DT figure due to the 120% rule.
Since that 2020 agreement, Jones has ripped off three more Pro Bowl seasons and further established himself as the Chiefs’ most indispensable defender. He sacked Joe Burrow twice in the AFC championship game, helping the Chiefs hold off the Bengals despite Mahomes playing on a gimpy ankle. With Nick Bosa a candidate to top Donald’s AAV, it will be interesting to see if Jones waits on the 49ers finalizing that long-rumored agreement or sees if Williams can move the non-Donald D-tackle bar higher soon.
The Chiefs expect Jones at training camp, but a hold-in effort would not surprise. A resolution on this matter should be expected before Week 1, but this represents one of the league’s top 2023 contractual dominoes.
