Kansas City Chiefs: Could Chandler Jones trade be on the radar?

Among many NFL players to request a trade in recent months, one name that could interest the Kansas City Chiefs is that of Arizona Cardinals defensive end Chandler Jones. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Jones requested a trade following unhappiness with his contract situation and as a result, has been a no-show to offseason work.

Jones is owed over $15 million in 2021 according to Spotrac.com and would become an unrestricted free agent in 2022.

It has also been reported that the Cardinals aren’t all that willing to trade Jones and that Jones is looking forward to playing with new offseason addition J.J. Watt, but at the end of the day it is a business and if Jones says he’s unhappy and continues to give the front office problems than they’ll have no choice but to make a choice.

Could Chandler Jones be on the KC Chiefs’ radar?

So, with Jones unofficially on the trade block that begs the question that we seem to ask with almost every free agent/trade target now in “should the Chiefs be interested in Jones?”.

Well, the Chiefs do have an apparent need at the defensive end position especially with the uncertainty of Frank Clark. Regardless of what happens to Clark, though, the Chiefs have struggled to get production out of their defensive ends recently and Jones could be a solution to that issue.

Over his 9-year career, Jones has accumulated 300 solo tackles, 106 tackles for a loss, and 97 sacks. Those are pretty insane numbers and it’s honestly quite strange why Jones doesn’t get talked about with some of the other top edge rushers in the league more frequently.

Sure, Jones is on the other side of 30 now and coming off a disappointing, injury-riddled year in which he only had 1 sack in 5 games, but he is still a force to be reckoned with and should be going into next season with something to prove.

It pretty much goes without explanation as to why the Chiefs might be interested in Jones. You can never count out Brett Veach in these scenarios where an elite-level player becomes available.

Of course, Jones would be due a pretty large chunk of change and the Chiefs have to be careful with their spending. They would have to find a way to offload some money first. Well, we already alluded to uncertainty with Frank Clark, so what if the Chiefs offered some sort of swap with the Cardinals?

It sounds crazy, but both Jones and Clark are players that are in a bad spot with their respective organizations and it would be a pretty fair deal as they both play the same position. It could just be perfect timing for both teams to strike a deal. It’s also probably the only way a trade for Jones could work financially. Just throw in some draft pick compensation and things could get interesting.

Some may argue Clark is still a valuable asset to the Chiefs especially because of his run defense but the Chiefs run defense has remained mediocre even with Clark and the pass-rush has taken a hit since he’s joined the team so why not regain a strength in the pass-rushing department by finding a way to get Jones on this team. Plus, a “Jones and Jones” pass-rush duo with Chandler Jones and Chris Jones would be pretty much unstoppable.

It’s unlikely the Chiefs acquire Jones because of the reasons aforementioned, but it isn’t impossible. We will have to wait and see if there’s any movement with Jones in the coming weeks as training camp progresses.