fake pictures
With the deadline to sign a long-term deal while he is in the franchise just over two weeks away, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones may be trying to claim some leverage in the negotiations.
In a response via his Twitter account to an NFL Network segment discussing the status of his contract, Jones said he will not play in 2020 if he does not get a long-term deal from the Chiefs.
Or I will not play. @LeVeonBell told me about this
– Chris Jones (@StoneColdJones) July 1, 2020
Le’Veon Bell was out all 2018 after the Pittsburgh Steelers used the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive season. The Steelers did not reuse the tag at Bell last year and instead signed a free-agent deal with the New York Jets.
Jones doesn’t seem to be particularly close to coming to terms with the Chiefs right now. The franchise tag offering for Jones is worth $ 16.1 million for next year. Jones has posted 24.5 combined sacks in the past two seasons for Kansas City with 15.5 sacks in 2018.
Top of the defensive tackle market is found with Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams and DeForest Buckner of the Indianapolis Colts. Donald is the second highest-paid defensive player in the game at $ 22.5 million a year on average, which only beats Khalil Mack of the Chicago Bears. Buckner’s new deal with the Colts after a trade this offseason averages $ 21 million a year.
Jones has more sacks (33) than Buckner (28.5) in the past four years and would probably consider himself valuable at least in the same neighborhood from a contract standpoint.
The Chiefs also have to find a long-term deal for Patrick Mahomes and that could also be influencing Jones’ situation.
While there are differences between the Jones and Bell situations, Jones states that he will not play without a new Chiefs deal is at least an attempt to leverage the negotiations in his favor a bit more.
