As the contract impasse lingers between the Chiefs and defensive tackle Chris Jones, there’s some stuff floating around in the media that has mischaracterized Jones’s expectations.
In response to an item claiming that Jones is trying to beat the Aaron Donald contract ($31.67 million per year) and that the Chiefs are being reasonable and that Jones isn’t, we put on our journalisming hat and tracked down the truth.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Chiefs have offered to replace the $19.5 million that Jones is due to earn in 2023 with $74 million over the next three years. Of that amount, $70 million would be guaranteed for injury, with a lower amount fully guaranteed.
That’s an average of $24.67 million, and $7 million per year less than the Donald deal. Jones, we’re told, isn’t trying to get to Donald’s number. In fact, he’d split the difference.
The midpoint between the team’s offer and the Donald deal is $28.17 million.
In other words, instead of $95 million over three years (the Donald deal), Jones would take $84.5 million over three. The Chiefs, again, are at $74 million over three years.
The problem for Jones has been the cluster of contracts signed by defensive tackles this offseason in the range of $22.5 million to $23.5 million. The Chiefs have been trying to keep Jones in that general vicinity. Jones has been aiming higher. And while the Donald deal has justified Jones’s ambitions, Jones is not trying to match or beat Donald.
Through it all, the clock is ticking. While there’s no specific deadline for doing the deal, the ultimate deadline is Thursday night, when the Chiefs host the Lions. The sooner something gets done, the more likely Jones will be ready to go when the regular season commences.
