The Kansas City Chiefs have a ton of work to do before their Super Bowl defense begins on September 7 against the Detroit Lions. Star defensive lineman Chris Jones has been holding out, reportedly in search of ‘Aaron Donald money.'

Now, Chiefs GM Brett Veach is speaking out about his hopes for a new Chris Jones contract with the Chiefs.

Chiefs fans have been on the edge of their seat lately with news relating to Isiah Pacheco and Kadarius Toney. Some key players are struggling early in training camp, but the team has plenty of time to put things together with the season now in full swing.

If the Chiefs are to repeat as Super Bowl champs, Jones's presence on the defensive front is key. Jones is in the final year of his deal. According to Veach, the Chiefs' stance on a new contract has not changed.

“He’s a great player, and he wants a big contract. He deserves a big contract, and I don’t think there’s any surprises in that regard,” Veach said to The Kansas City Star on Monday. “But there’s just some hurdles we have to work through in regards to how we can keep this thing going for the short- and long-term. But we’ve never wavered on, ‘This is a guy that we want to exhaust all of our efforts to get done,’ because that’s how much we think of him.”

Last year, the Chiefs traded star receiver and fan favorite Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for draft picks.

“You have to keep in mind that when we did make that move with Tyreek, one of the determining factors was because there was an expected Chris Jones deal,” Veach said. “And so, to do Tyreek, there was a concern of, ‘Would we be able to do Chris?’

On Monday, Veach said that the Chiefs likely won't trade Jones before the start of the season. He added that he hopes for a resolution with his contract.

“I think for all parties, I think the best resolution would be for him to end his career as a Chief — and get that financial security — and for us to do what we had set out to do, and that’s to work through last offseason with this offseason in mind and get some young guys, which we did that, and then focus on this year and getting Chris done,” Veach said. “Hopefully, we get this resolved, but we have no intentions of making a trade.”