A big storyline this offseason for the Kansas City Chiefs involved a new contract for defensive star Chris Jones, but it appears that might not get done. According to Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports, there has been no change in the situation in the last few weeks, which means talks have probably stalled.
There has been no change in the Chris Jones situation in recent weeks, a source tells me. That could always change, but he does still have to report to camp by Aug. 6 to receive an accrued season toward free agency.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) July 15, 2019
Last season Jones was a breakout star, racking up 40 tackles and 15.5 sacks, and now he wants to be paid like an upper-echelon defensive player. Jones didn't appear during the Chiefs offseason training and the expectation is that he will continue his holdout into camp. As Paylor points out, though, Jones must report by August 6 or he won't accrue a season towards free agency this year.
Former sports agent Joel Corry of CBS Sports also pointed out that if Jones didn't report that would make him a restricted free agent this upcoming offseason, rather than unrestricted.
“Any training camp holdout by Jones should be relatively brief,” Corry wrote. “A year of service towards free agency (i.e.; an accrued season) isn’t earned when a player doesn’t report to his team at least 30 days prior to NFL’s first regular season game. The reporting deadline this year is Aug. 6.
“Missing this Aug. 6 deadline and Jones playing out his rookie deal after a failed holdout would make him a restricted free agent in 2020, rather than unrestricted. Under this scenario, the Chiefs would have the ability to give Jones a restricted free agent tender, which will be between $4.627 million and $4.848 million, where they would get a first-round pick next year from a team signing him to an offer sheet that isn’t matched.”
This will be a storyline to watch as that August 6 deadline approaches to see if Chris Jones will report to camp.
Follow Us
Subscribe