Following Patrick Mahomes’ record-breaking contract, the Kansas City Chiefs have locked up another star player ahead of a rapidly approaching deadline.
According to a number of reports, the Chiefs and Chris Jones have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension. Jones was the team’s designated franchise tag player for 2020, but he won’t be playing on the tag this year.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says the deal is worth a total of $85 million, including $60 million in guaranteed money upon injury. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, $37 million is guaranteed at the point of signing. He also clarified that the deal is worth $80 million but can reach $85 million with an additional $5 million in incentives attached to the deal. That’s a big commitment from a Kansas City team to one of their star players who that yearned for a contract that reflected his worth. It’s safe to say the team achieved that goal with this deal.
It was well-documented that Jones would be unhappy playing under the franchise tag in 2020. Recently, Jones took to Twitter stating that he might not play without an extension.
The Chiefs always maintained that they wanted to keep Jones on the team, dating back to his first discontent in 2018, but navigating an extension was a bit more complicated. They first had to get Mahomes’ deal squared away because he was the utmost priority. Then the team needed to smooth things out with Jones and show him that they valued him as he did himself.
This deal will keep Jones in Kansas City, wreaking havoc against opposing quarterbacks for a long time. Drafted in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones has amassed 136 combined tackles, 37 tackles for loss and 33 sacks during his career with the Chiefs. He had three crucial balls batted in Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers, making a huge impact on the final outcome of the game.
