Chris Jones has yet to join the Kansas City Chiefs in training camp amid his contract holdout. While the franchise is reportedly still trying to resolve the situation, it has been reported that Jones has made it clear to the team what he wants.

Of course Jones wants a long-term contract with a significant bump in his current salary. He is set to enter the 2023 season on the final year of the four-year, $80 million contract he signed in 2020. Considering how much he has succeeded with the franchise and helped them in winning two Super Bowls, he's definitely due for a pay raise.

Now according to the latest rumors, Jones wants a contract that is similar to what Aaron Donald signed with the Los Angeles Rams after winning the Super Bowl back in 2022, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz. For those not in the know, Donald was rewarded with a three-year, $95 million deal at the time. Schultz mentioned New York Jets DT Quinnen Williams and his four-year, $96 million deal for comparison, highlighting that Jones would prefer a Donald-like money.

“What I've been told is that Chris Jones wants [a contract] closer to that Aaron Donald money than Quinnen Williams money. Both great, but Aaron Donald really reset the market. It’s gonna be really interesting to see what Jones gets in comparison to [Nick] Bosa,” Schultz explained, via Bleacher Report.

It remains to be seen of the Chiefs will be willing to meet that rumored contract demand for their star defensive tackle, though there is no denying that the team needs him if they want to consistently compete for the Super Bowl in Patrick Mahomes' prime years.

Chiefs' stance on Chris Jones contract

For what it's worth, the Chiefs understand where Chris Jones is coming from. The 29-year-old defensive tackle knows his worth, and he just wants to get what he deserves.

While the team knows that, however, contract negotiations aren't easy since it involves money and financial limitations. General manager Brett Veach said as much recently, though he emphasized that they have no plans of trading Jones as they instead look to resolve his contract issue.

“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 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.”

Veach also highlighted that the reason they traded Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for draft picks in the 2022 offseason was in anticipation of working out a deal with Jones. Unfortunately, perhaps because of how Donald reset the market as Schultz said, it has become increasingly difficult for the Chiefs to get a deal done with their star defensive star.

“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. And so, to do Tyreek, there was a concern of, ‘Would we be able to do Chris?'” Veach added.

Hopefully there will be a positive outcome in Jones' situation. It's clear that the veteran star wants to stay, but like everyone else, he wants to get what he feels he deserves, and rightfully so.