The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of celebrating a Super Bowl championship, although there's plenty of work to be done this offseason to stay on top. Kansas City has 24 players scheduled to hit free agency this offseason and one of them is star defensive tackle Chris Jones -- arguably their most impactful defender overall.
Jones will finish his rookie contract this offseason as the former second-round pick has 33 sacks and 72 quarterback hits in four seasons. Coming off his first Pro Bowl season as the anchor of the Chiefs defensive line, Jones is set to earn a massive payday this offseason. He's hoping that contract comes from the Chiefs, and Jones may take a hometown discount to make sure he stays in Kansas City.
"You actually got to sit back and enjoy the moment cause you don't get these moments often. I'm so grateful to be on this team, man," Jones said, via NFL.com. "Kansas City, I know I don't talk about it much but I want to be a Chief for life. I plan to stay here forever, man, and win not only one championship, two, three, four. We got to build a dynasty here."
The Chiefs want to keep Jones, but their limited salary cap space makes it difficult to keep him. Kansas City has just $16.2 million in projected salary-cap space (according to OverTheCap) and Jones is in line for a huge salary bump. The Chiefs do have players they can part ways with this offseason in order to keep Jones, however. For example, cutting Sammy Watkins and Eric Fisher would save $20.3 million in cap room, but it would also knock their offense back.
Jones finished with 36 sacks and nine sacks in 13 games for the Chiefs this season, finishing with 20 quarterback hits and 27 pressures. The season prior, Jones finished with 49 pressures and a career-high 15.5 sacks and 29 quarterback hits. The Chiefs defense allowed just 16 points per game over the last nine games, as opposing quarterbacks had just 10 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions while opposing running backs had 98.9 yards per game. Jones played a major role as Kansas City's defense finished 11th with 45 sacks in 2019, leading the team in sacks for the second consecutive year.
Jones wants to be in Kansas City, but can the Chiefs afford him? The next several weeks will determine how Kansas City will keep its championship core intact, starting with Jones.
