Chiefs plan to use franchise tag on star defensive tackle Chris Jones, source says
An expected move on the business side of football finally arrived Thursday morning.
The Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs are planning to use their franchise tag on defensive tackle Chris Jones, a source told The Star.
The NFL Network was first to report the news.
Jones was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on March 18, but the franchise designation ensures the Chiefs will have the Pro Bowl defensive tackle for another year, provided Jones agrees to and signs it. Thursday was the first day such designations could be made, per NFL rules.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach earlier in the week said keeping Jones in Kansas City was “a priority.”
Veach also said he was scheduled to meet with Jones’ representatives in hopes of cementing a long-term deal, but he acknowledged then that utilizing the franchise tag remained a possibility.
The problem is that the Chiefs don’t have a lot of wiggle room financially right now.
The move gives the Chiefs and Jones until mid-July to work out a long-term deal. Otherwise, assuming he signs, Jones will play the 2020 season under the tag, which comes with an estimated one-year salary of $16 million to $17 million.
Spotrac projects the Chiefs to have just $16.5 million in available salary cap space when the NFL’s new calendar year begins March 18.
Veach understands the Chiefs are limited but said they could get creative with other contracts to gain cap relief. That would likely mean restructuring other players’ current contracts.
“It’s one of those things where you can sit there and just crunch those numbers any which way,” Veach said. “Now, a lot of these moves will play into what happens with another move, so it’s like a domino effect. So, to sit here and say we can’t do this, we can’t do that, it’s very hard to do unless you know the whole totality of the situation on what’s going on.
“It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, but there are ways that we can get creative and do things. When you win your first Super Bowl in 50 years, you want to keep as many players on your roster as you can. And we’re going to try like heck to do that.”
There’s little doubt Jones has earned a larger contract.
Since joining the Chiefs as a second-round draft pick in 2016, he has emerged as one of the league’s best pass rushers. He appeared in 61 games with 41 starts over the past four seasons, totaling 136 tackles, 33 sacks and 72 quarterback hits. He 15.5 sacks in 2018 were a career high.
With the tag soon to be officially in place, the clock will start ticking.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 11:26 AM.
