The Kansas City Chiefs have several major decisions to make, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
While the Chiefs are typically known for their offensive prowess, this year’s defense anchored by veteran DT Chris Jones, an elite secondary and other key playmakers have carried the team for much of the year.
Heading into the playoffs, the Chiefs boast the No. 2 defense in the NFL allowing just 289.8 yards per game and 32 touchdowns so far. The only team ranked above them are the Cleveland Browns who give up less yards per game (270.2) but have allowed 44 touchdowns, significantly more than Kansas City.
The Kanas City Chiefs biggest strength is defending the pass by putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and forcing them to beat their impressive cornerbacks and safeties.
Chris Jones is a main part of the pass rush, entering Sunday’s matchup with 30 tackles and 10.5 sacks. The elite defensive tackle has spent his entire career in Kansas CIty, since getting drafted out of Mississippi State in 2016 in the second round.
Jones has been the face of the Chiefs defense for a long time and has produced nearly every season he’s been with the organization. This marks the third year in his career he surpasses the 10-sack mark, and he had an eye-popping 15.5 sacks last season and in 2018. The Kansas City Chiefs big man hasn’t recorded less than 6.5 sacks in any season other than his rookie campaign in 2016, where he finished the year with 2.5.
Jones was a wrecking force throughout the playoffs and in the Super Bowl. While the Chiefs brass has expressed a desire to keep him in Kansas City, it will take some magic considering the team’s salary cap issues and what the DL is projected to make on the open market.
Kansas City Chiefs Projected To Lose Chris Jones To Rival Las Vegas Raiders
He now has three Super Bowl championships and six Pro Bowl appearances in his eight-year NFL career, so maybe — just maybe — defensive endChris Jones has done all he is going to do in Kansas City and it’s time for a new challenge. Heading into the first day of the NFL offseason, that’s the hope of the Raiders or any other franchise aiming to pry Jones away from the Chiefs in his upcoming free agency. According to Bleacher Report, the Raiders are a “top” landing spot for Jones.
But if you’re new GM Tom Telesco, getting Jones’s name on a Raiders contract would be a major early coup.
Chris Jones is rated the top overall free agent on the market this year by Pro Football Focus, CBS Sports and The 33rd Team, a seldom-seen designation for an interior defensive lineman. But such is Jones’ ability to disrupt and control a game, as well as his consistency at age 29. PFF projects him to warrant a contract of four years and $120 million, or $30 million per year, while Spotrac has him coming in at three years and $85.5 million, or $28.4 million annually.
Here’s how Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay summed up the Raiders’ potential fit with Chris Jones, a pass-rusher in a 310-pound lineman’s body who has 26 sacks in the last two years with the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Jones would be a massive upgrade in the teeth of the Raiders defense. His ability to command constant attention from opposing offensive linemen would free up [Maxx] Crosby — coming off a career-high 14.5-sack campaign — to wreak even more havoc in the backfield.
“Factor in the potential emergence of Tyree Wilson, the promising edge who was Vegas’ first-round draft choice this past season, and this could become one of the NFL’s most formidable fronts as early as 2024.”
Oh, and there was the bit of flirtation between Jones and Raiders Nation that took place during Super Bowl week, when Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal spoke to Jones about the Raiders.
As Bonsignore wrote on Twitter/X: “Chris Jones (pending FA) to me about the @Raiders facility: ‘The Raiders have the best facility in the league. Very first-class organization. New equipment, new facility. Much respect to the owner and the organization.’ He laughed when I said Raiders fans would love hearing that.”
