KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the NFL Draft and all the prep work involved there in the books, the Kansas City Chiefs pivot to a more big-picture view of the roster.
Among the top priorities on that checklist now for General Manager Brett Veach? A contract extension for All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who is entering the final year of his current deal.
“We’ll spend time and obviously we have a great relationship with Chris and his staff, so we’ll get to work and see what we can do,” Veach said.
Jones, 28, signed a four-year deal with $80 million before the 2020 season. He’s set to count over $28.2 million against the salary cap in 2023 and is coming off a career year.
Originally picked in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones emerged as one of the top interior pass rushers in the NFL during his third season with a breakout 15 1/2-sack campaign.
Jones hadn’t been able to match that production and missed at least one game each of the next three seasons, but he was arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL last season — matching his career high with 15 1/2 sacks and logging the first two postseason sacks of his NFL career as the Chiefs won a second Super Bowl in four years.
Joe Cullen, who took over as defensive-line coach last season, seemed to help unleash Jones’ full talent again, so it’s understandable that Kansas City is eager to lock him up beyond next season.
“Those things usually take a little bit of time here, but we have a little bit of a runway between now until the start of training camp to hopefully get something done,” Veach said.
Is he confident the Chiefs and Jones will strike a deal before he enters a possible walk year? Kind of.
“Until you get a deal done, I don’t know — in this league — if you’re ever confident in anything,” Veach said. “But that’s on the list of things to do.”
