Contract details for Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones will tell the full story of record-setting deal
The Kansas City Chiefs are set to sign star DT Chris Jones to a long-term contract extension which has been reported as a record-setting deal that makes him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history. It's a five-year contract worth around $160 million in total with $95 million guaranteed over its first three years, but the reality is […]
The Kansas City Chiefs are set to sign star DT Chris Jones to a long-term contract extension which has been reported as a record-setting deal that makes him the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history.
It's a five-year contract worth around $160 million in total with $95 million guaranteed over its first three years, but the reality is that details of the contract tell us the full story. The MMQB's Albert Breer reports that the 2024 and 2025 NFL seasons will be fully guaranteed at signing, but the third year will not be guaranteed until March of 2025.
That's a mechanism that helps Clark Hunt pay for the deal in terms of cash and not salary cap. He'll only need to worry about putting cash in escrow for the signing bonus and the first two years of Jones' deal, which is no small feat. It both proves that the Chiefs' owner is not "cheap" and that the organization has not lost its contract prowess with Chris Shea taking over for Brandt Tilis.
Without the full contract details out right now, there's a lot of guessing going on. One guess remains consistent among the brightest salary cap minds out there. Everyone expects the final two years of Jones' contract to be dummy years tacked on to inflate the per-year average. That way The Katz Brothers and Chris Jones can take their victory lap of achieving a contract that sets him above Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald.
Here's what Over The Cap's Jason Fitzgerald thinks the structure will look like:
If Jones gets a $30M signing bonus, that particular structure would mean that Jones would carry a cap hit of $7.5M in 2024 before his cap number spikes significantly in 2025 and 2026. That cap number in 2024 should allow the team to continue to be active in free agency and make additions to their roster if they so choose.
Ultimately, this is the price of bringing back a cornerstone defender during the midst of a dynastic run. The deal looks like it gave everyone a bit of what they wanted. Jones and his agents get the milestone deal that sets him ahead of Donald. He gets to stay in Kansas City long-term, which he claims was always the plan. Clark Hunt certainly can shed whatever recent narrative popped up about him being "cheap." The Chiefs get to keep the player their defense is built around for at least the next three years.
Is the deal a risk? Absolutely. They're betting on Jones' ability to keep playing at a high level, especially during the postseason. If he does, it'll help the team continue to keep their championship window open. That's the type of bet that you've got to be willing to make at this juncture, especially when you're approaching NFL history with a chance to become the first team to ever win three consecutive Super Bowls.
