KC Chiefs: How to keep Chris Jones under contract biggest decision left

Now that the KC Chiefs have signed their quarterback to a huge deal, the next focal point is on Chris Jones.

It wasn’t shocking that “How do the Kansas City Chiefs get Chris Jones under contract?” was what Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Reported listed as the team’s biggest looming decision prior to the 2020 season.

As mentioned in the introduction, with Patrick Mahomes now signed to a ten-year deal, the next step on the Chiefs’ to-do list is to figure out how to keep Jones in Kansas City. He’s currently slapped with the franchise tag, but he’s threatened to sit out the 2020 season if he doesn’t get the kind of money he’s asking for.

That’s obviously not ideal, but as Cameron Black of KC Kingdom wrote, if Jones decides to sit out, that’s his decision and he has the right to do so.

Here is what Knox had to say on his blurb for the Chiefs’ biggest looming decision,

"This isn’t a question of if the Chefs should extend him, but a question of how. The recent $450 million extension signed by quarterback Patrick Mahomes could provide a blueprint.The most Mahomes will make over the next three seasons is $31.45 million in 2022. This means Kansas City should have a three-year window during which it can realistically afford Jones in that $20 million-per-year range.A three-year extension or a deal front-loaded for those first three years could create a desirable situation for both the Chiefs and for Jones."

At this point, it doesn’t seem like the Chiefs are looking to trade Jones. Trading him prior to the draft would have been a smart idea so that they could have gotten some draft capital back, but once that didn’t happen, it appeared likely that he’d be on the roster in 2020 (even if he didn’t play).

It’s interesting how Knox lays out the potential contract here and KC Kingdom’s own John McCarty also touched on how the Chiefs could use Mahomes’ contract structure as a guide to getting a deal done for Jones.