INDIANAPOLIS — With shoulder pads and jersey still on and a crisp new commemorative hat that served as a crown to a two-time Super Bowl champion, Chris Jones smiled for several minutes as he discussed his feelings after the Chiefs’ comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles on the biggest stage in the NFL. Jones’ smile then turned to a serious expression as he shared his biggest wish for the Chiefs’ offseason.
“I definitely feel like we’re capable of fighting for another one again,” Jones said of the Chiefs’ chances of continuing their dynasty. “This is a special team. We’re holding that core together, holding Frank Clark, holding him and me together, I think we can be very, very special.”
Once again, one of the most important subplots for the Chiefs over the next few weeks is whether they can retain their pass-rushing duo of Jones and Clark. Both players are on the Chiefs’ salary cap for the 2023 season, but they are in the final year of their contract and have a cap of more than $28 million, according to Over The Cap.
During the Chiefs’ annual state-of-the-franchise event on Tuesday, the opening day of the league’s annual scouting combine, general manager Brett Veach acknowledged that one of the most complex parts of the team’s multi-faceted offseason plan — the one to be changed can through a single transaction or trade – consists of finding the best path that will result in Jones and Clark signing new contracts while still having enough salary cap flexibility to improve other areas of the roster.
“The good thing for us is that we have these strong ties with these players who have played here a long time,” Veach said of Jones and Clark on Tuesday. “They love being here. That’s a good starting point for us. The ties we have with these players and the fact that we have a long track record with them helps us buy more time.”
And yet Veach said the first domino for the Chiefs to have a successful spring does not involve Jones or Clark.
Instead, Veach mentioned that the star would attack Orlando Brown Jr. The Chiefs have until 3:00 p.m. CT Tuesday to decide whether to franchise tag Brown before the league ends. But such a move requires the Chiefs to make room for salary caps. One of the most logical ways to accomplish such a task is to release Clark before 3:00 PM CT on March 15, the beginning of free agency. Clark’s release would create $21 million in salary cap while also pocketing a $7.6 million cap in dead money, according to Over The Cap.
If that possibility becomes a reality, Veach stressed that the Chiefs will be competitive in the open market to re-sign Clark, the nine-year defensive end who led the team with 2-1/2 sacks and four quarterback hits in the postseason.
“We’re probably going to need some leeway to some extent, but we also have a long history with (Clark) and his agent (Erik Burkhardt),” Veach said. “He will be one of the many conversations we have this week and we look forward to getting together with him and seeing if we can work out something that makes sense for both parties.”
An eight-year veteran, Jones was the league’s top interior pass rusher last season, producing 15 1/2 sacks and 29 quarterback hits, both numbers that tied career highs. He also played 916 snaps — 80 percent of the unit’s total snaps — the most among the Chiefs’ defenders. Jones is the top defenseman Veach wants to sign for a contract extension, a deal that will ensure his services during the prime of his career while also freeing up more salary cap room for the team.
Veach also feels it’s urgent to see if Jones is willing to negotiate and agree to a new contract before free agency begins. A year ago, Veach was looking to achieve a similar goal with superstar receiver Tyreek Hill, who was also entering the final year of his contract.
“I walked out of here last year thinking we’d do Tyreeks[deal]again,” Veach said. “Things change quickly. Usually the market dictates these things.”
Short of free agency, the Chiefs offered Hill, the league’s fastest player, a lucrative extension that would have made him one of the league’s highest-paid receivers, perhaps as high as a top-five earner at his position. But Hill wanted to be the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver. The conclusion of the negotiations came in the form of a blockbuster trade when the Miami Dolphins bought Hill and signed him to the contract he wanted. Swapping the deal earned the Chiefs five draft picks, which Veach used to improve and better balance the team’s roster.
This year, according to a league source, Jones wants an extension that makes him at least the second-highest player in his position. In June, Aaron Donald, the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive tackle superstar, signed a three-year, $95 million deal.
“We will certainly have discussions with Chris and his agents (Jason Katz and Michael Katz),” Veach said. “Doing something with Chris would make sense for us, and I think Chris will want to stay here and retire a chief.”
Not only does Jones want to play his entire career with the Chiefs, but he also understands that a potential extension — one structured a certain way over three or four years — could be a critical mechanism in ensuring the team has enough salary caps, to hold Clark.
Superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes made a similar financial decision in July 2020 when he signed a 10-year, $477 million extension that could reach as much as $503 million through incentives, the largest contract in the world at the time sports history. With his extension beginning after the 2021 season, Mahomes gave the Chiefs the flexibility to sign Jones for a four-year, $80 million extension, capped by incentives nearing the league deadline for franchise-tagged players could reach $85 million.
“I want to have really good football players around me,” Mahomes said at the time. “It’s not about one person. It’s about the team.”
After a disappointing 2021 season, Clark made the biggest financial sacrifice for the team to remain in the roster. The team could have fired Clark, which would have netted $12.7 million. But Clark restructured his contract and reduced his base salary to $3.7 million, which helped the Chiefs make $12.6 million in space. He agreed to the deal after having a late-season conversation with coach Andy Reid, who demanded that his veteran be a stronger leader to his teammates, one whose words matched his actions.
Clark responded by being a reliable player in 15 regular-season games, and then produced his best performance during the Chiefs’ postseason run. Reid’s final meeting with Clark last month, during which both men expressed mutual gratitude, took place on the same day as the Chiefs’ ceremonial parade with fans in Kansas City.
“I love Frank,” Reid said Tuesday. “Frank is a top notch guy. I love him to death.”
At halftime in Super Bowl LVII, the Chiefs entered their locker room after a lackluster first half that ended with them trailing the Eagles by 10 points. Clark was one of the players who needed to regroup and focus, along with Mahomes and superstar tight end Travis Kelce, who used his voice to motivate and inspire his teammates.
“I said this to Chris: ‘We have to win this’; we have to win this game,’” Clark said after the game. “This one just means a lot more to me because of the road here. I don’t care about sack counts, about always being third in the playoffs. Playoff Frank I don’t care. All I care about is winning a Super Bowl and being the best teammate I can be.”
(Photo by Frank Clark and Chris Jones: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)