Insider gives huge update after Chiefs All-Pro DT's contract extension comments

"Adding to the perception that a decision has been made was Jones’s specific claim that he’ll be back this year, next year, and the year after that. It suggests that a three-year deal is being negotiated, and that it’s possibly close to being done," Florio wrote. "Per a source with knowledge of the situation, an agreement is expected 'no time soon.'”

As Florio noted, Jones "applied maximum leverage" early last season, skipping training camp, the preseason and the team's Week 1 loss against the Detroit Lions amid his contract dispute. Jones was eventually given a new one-year deal.

He said multiple times last summer that he was willing to sit out until Week 8, as he attempted to secure a deal that would make him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the NFL. Los Angeles Rams All-Pro Aaron Donald holds that distinction, as he earns an average annual salary of $31.6M.

Jones finished the 2023 regular season with team highs in quarterback hits (career-high-tying 29) and tackles for loss (13), while tying for the team lead in sacks (10.5). Jones added four passes defended in the regular season as well, and recorded eight tackles, six quarterback hits, two passes defended and one forced fumble across Kansas City's four playoff games.

Now, the Chiefs have options.

They could franchise tag the 29-year-old, and per Florio, with Jones' 2023 cap number at $26.8M, it would cost them $32.1M for a one-year deal.

"If they tag him and hope to sign him to a long-term deal, $32.16 million becomes the starting point," he wrote. "If he isn’t tagged, he gets a ticket to free agency. He would be one of the top available free agents. Other teams (like, say, the Chargers and new coach Jim Harbaugh) might overpay Jones in order to both get him away from the Chiefs and to add him to a defense that will try to stop the Chiefs."