Chris Jones says he got back all the money he lost during holdout but there’s a caveat
What a difference a few days makes.
Things weren’t so great for the Chiefs on Friday. The Lions pulled off an upset victory at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium the night before, and the status of Chris Jones and Travis Kelce was in question.
Then came the rest of the NFL’s Week 1 games.
Joe Burrow threw for 82 yards as the Bengals were spanked by the Browns. The Chargers coughed up a fourth-quarter lead and lost at home to Miami. On Monday night, the Jets saw Aaron Rodgers suffer a season-ending injury but still beat the Bills as Josh Allen turned the ball over four times.
Oh, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Kelce is getting better, hours before the team signed Jones to a one-year deal on Monday.
Having Jones back should be a boon for the Chiefs’ defense, and he shared a message on X (née Twitter) about his return: “Letsssss gooooooooooo.”
Jones’ return means he will no longer be losing money. Jones was fined roughly $2 million for skipping training camp and lost a $500,000 workout bonus. By skipping the Chiefs’ first game, Jones wasn’t paid $1.1 million (1/17th of his salary).
That’s about $3.6 million lost, as NFL writer Ari Meirov noted on X. Jones responded to Meirov saying, “Got it all back!”
Details of Jones’ contract (which you can see here) with the Chiefs seem to indicate that he will have to do some work to get all the money he lost during the holdout. His base salary will remain the same (except for the check he missed for not playing against the Lions).
Jones should get back the $2 million lost by missing training camp rather easily. The Chiefs worked in bonuses that would pay him $1 million for playing 35% of snaps this season, and another $1 million for appearing in 50% of the snaps.
Getting the other $1.6 million is possible but would require a combination of Jones reaching double-digit sacks and/or awards and Chiefs’ postseason success.
Jones responded to a fan who heckled him on social media and seems ready to make an impact in the Chiefs’ game Sunday at Jacksonville.
