KC Chiefs’ Chris Jones hurting own cause with holdout communication gap, social media
Andy Reid’s range of public looks include a frequent poker face and occasional jokester delivery, plenty of look-you-in-the-eye engagement and rare red-faced anger.
Then there’s eerily calm Andy, a demeanor I interpret as the restrained fury of a patient man.
If star defender Chris Jones is trying that patience in fans with his ongoing holdout — despite being under contract with the Chiefs to play for $19.5 million this season — imagine how it’s exasperating the coach who despises distractions. To say nothing of the void that comes with it.
Especially when Reid is left to have to respond to Jones’ cryptic social media posts — including his insinuation on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that he doesn’t plan to return until “Week 8” because he “can afford it.”
That forum, per Reid, evidently is about the only venue through which the Chiefs are hearing anything from Jones or his camp. It’s all the more problematic — for all concerned — as time drains toward the Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7 to open the NFL season and begin in earnest their quest to win back-to-back titles.
“There’s been no communication, so I don’t know what’s going to go (on) there,” Reid said Wednesday as the Chiefs prepared to play host to Cleveland on Saturday in their final preseason game. “But whatever happens, happens. If you’re not there, the game goes on, right? So that’s how it works.”
In normal times, Jones’ antics make him a fun guy who is easy to like. His personality fused together with becoming a dominant defensive line force is part of what has made him a fan favorite.
But some of his posts are tin-eared in the negotiation vacuum that now leaves the Chiefs appearing vulnerable in their interior defensive line until — or is it unless? — Jones returns.
Other than his response a few days ago telling people not to donate to a fake GoFundMe using his name to say “I need $10,000,000 more to play football,” Jones just isn’t helping his cause in the online world.
Jones, who last postseason urged teammates to … stay off Twitter for a bit, may not want to make that the only place he seems communicative, at least in the abstract, while his future remains in limbo. Because no doubt some of what he’s saying combined with the broader disconnect rankles Reid and the Chiefs and further frays tensions that may already be trending towards irreconcilable.
When training camp began, Reid suggested the sides were in constructive talks. That indicated good-faith discussion even if they remained far apart on resolution. But that ended shortly thereafter, and general manager Brett Veach recently told The Star negotiations were in a lull even as he expressed optimism that would pick up closer to the season.
But apparently not, per the Chiefs … and perhaps through Jones. In another of his puzzling posts on Tuesday, he shared a photo of a chalkboard that touted this: “If it’s out of your hands, it deserves freedom from your mind also.”
In whose hands this all is is a matter of conjecture. Without direct knowledge of what’s been put on the table, it’s impossible to say who is right and who’s wrong in making this extension work. Maybe it’s both sides. Maybe it’s neither.
As a pillar of the defense and selected by league peers as the 10th-best player in the NFL, Jones sure ought to seek all he’s worth.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have many other short-and long-term salary cap and budgetary considerations to make — all while balancing how much to reward the 29-year-old Jones for what he’s done with what they can expect him to produce in the future.
To whichever side you might be more sympathetic, though, Jones’ approach has been against his own self-interests for weeks.
Jones long ago made his point, asserted his leverage and avoided Reid’s arduous training camp in St. Joseph.
Now, though, he’s on the very verge of compromising a vital season in his career: 2023 is the portal to all his future earnings, after all, whether with the Chiefs or ultimately elsewhere through free agency.
And if he really wants to break the bank, Jones should be doing all he can to have the season of his life.
Instead, the holdout for an extension and substantial raise already has cost Jones $50,000 a day toward more than a million dollars in fines — a rolling tab that would be amassed by more than a million dollars per each missed regular-season game.
If he can theoretically afford that financially for a while, the illogical approach comes with bigger risks that appear less affordable: No matter how high-quality his conditioning is, for instance, there’s no way around that he’ll need at least a couple weeks to be in football shape.
So unless he somehow materializes here in the next day or so, it’s unlikely he’d be able to perform as long or as well as he normally would against Detroit. Or even at all.
And, well, best of luck Sept. 17 in steamy Jacksonville.
Then there’s the matter of how susceptible to injury he could be from being less than fully prepared ... and how that could domino.
Meanwhile, for what it’s worth in the big picture, it’s been easy to read a general shift in public perception of Jones.
What had seemed generally accepted as “you get yours” and a principled stand now seems more widely perceived as unrelatable overkill that also jeopardizes what fans want most: to win.
That pulse might not reverberate with Jones, who probably can count on much being forgiven upon his return but may have created some holdouts in that category himself.
More to the heart of the matter, though, at some point you have to wonder how his continued absence amid a chance at history sits with his teammates ... and the lasting impact that ultimately will have.
Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes takes less money than he could claim so, in part, the team could accommodate Jones.
As ever, Mahomes said all the right things when asked Wednesday about the situation: He tells Jones he loves him and knows how much Jones loves the Chiefs. And he respects that contract stuff is “hard to talk about” and doesn’t begrudge him this.
When Jones comes back, Mahomes said he told him, “He’ll be welcomed with open arms.”
Still, Mahomes acknowledged, “I don’t think anyone expected him not to be here (by) now.”
To which we’ll reiterate something we’ve said before: Reporting for work presently needn’t feel like a surrender to Jones. Nothing precludes the sides from continuing, or resuming, negotiations during the season.
But even if they can’t make it work beyond 2023, Jones’ desire to be paid what he believes he’s worth in the long run still hinges on making an impact this season. At this stage, the longer he waits, the more difficult that will be in any number of ways.