KC Chiefs: Here’s what Chris Jones’ contract structure could look like

Chris Jones and the KC Chiefs reach agreement on four-year extension keeping the star defensive tackle in town for the foreseeable future.

News is still filtering in and details are still emerging, but what is known for sure is that defensive tackle Chris Jones will be staying with the Kansas City Chiefs, as the two sides agreed to a four-year contract extension just a mere day before the deadline to get the contract done for the franchise tagged player.

The deal is a four-year deal worth about $80 million in total with $60 million in guaranteed money, $37 of which is up front guarantees.

While the exact numbers are not yet completely known, what we do know is that Jones got the payday he was looking for, and the Chiefs keep their roster intact as they take a run at adding another Lombardi to their trophy case.

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What do I believe the structure of the contract looks like for Jones and the KC Chiefs?

If the $37 million is a signing bonus, that will carry a cap charge of $9.25 million per season of the contract. The minimum salary for a veteran of four years is 910K, so Jones will likely carry a cap charge this season of roughly $10.16 million. (Per Soren Petro of 810 WHB sports talk radio).

The number that will be interesting to see is the salary in 2023, the final year of the deal. Currently, if you simply took the remaining salary number (let’s say $79 million for simplicity), that would leave Jones with an average salary of $26.33 million per season. Then add in the prorated signing bonus amount of $9.25, and you can do that math and see that just isn’t plausible.

What is more likely is a massive amount of the salary is found in the fourth year. And I mean, a lot of it.

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If the contract carries $60 in total guarantees, and if $37 is guaranteed as a signing bonus, then we are likely looking at salaries in 2021 and 2022 in the neighborhood of $15 million per season.

I’m surprised this deal got done. However, with the unique structure of the Patrick Mahomes’ contract, the opportunity to get a deal done here became more plausible. Next offseason will see the Chiefs need to address the contracts of Tyreek Hill and Tyrann Mathieu.

Tyreek Hill’s contract carries very little guaranteed money past the 2020 season, and will likely want to rework his contract to provide more guarantees. Tyrann Mathieu signed a three year contract, so one would believe both the Chiefs and Mathieu will want to address the contract so he doesn’t enter the 2021 season without a new deal in hand.

Good for the Chiefs for getting this contract done and making Chris Jones a happy man heading into the 2020 season.