Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Tackle Chris Jones Threatening to Holdout Into Regular Season

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones has made it known just how serious he is about getting an extension. The four-time Pro Bowler took to social media to declare he was willing to continue his holdout into the regular season and even until Week 8 should he and his team not come to terms on a new deal.

Chris Jones indicated on social media that he’s willing to continue his holdout from the Chiefs until Week 8 and he's willing to forfeit his weekly $1.1 million game checks to do it. More via @adamteicher:https://t.co/njW8lE4HTM
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 23, 2023

Jones made his desire for a lucrative contract commensurate with his skills well-known early in the offseason. Shortly after the Chiefs' Super Bowl LVII win, Jones announced he was looking for an extension that would make him "at least the second-highest-paid defensive tackle in the league."

The highest-paid interior defensive lineman (and non-quarterback) in the league is Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald, who is currently playing on a three-year, $95 million contract. Jones is about to enter the final year of a four-year, $80 million deal and evidently expects a deal just behind Donald's singular extension.

Donald is a generational player and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, but Jones has a very real claim to being the second-best player at their position. He led all interior defensive linemen last year with his 92.0 overall Pro Football Focus grade and earned a first-team All-Pro. He also added 2.0 sacks and nine total tackles in the Chiefs' postseason run.

Jones has been one of the Chiefs' most valuable players over a four-year stretch that has included three Super Bowl appearances and two wins and remains at the peak of his powers, so the Chiefs' unwillingness to do business is somewhat surprising. He matched career highs in sacks (15.5) and quarterback hits (29) last season and only recently turned 29 years old.

Still, it's possible the Chiefs have surmised Jones won't maintain his quality play beyond another season or two. If the Chiefs decide not to work out a new deal, they could probably find another team that would. The Chiefs went all the way to the Super Bowl last year after trading away six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the offseason; maybe they can swing a similar miracle by getting a meaningful return on Jones.