Kansas City Chiefs fans are counting the days until training camp and anxiously awaiting news on a Chris Jones extension.
Speaking on SportsCenter on Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reiterated a lot of what is already known about an extension talks with Jones. That is to say that the Chiefs are committed to getting a deal done and aim to have it done before training camp.
What Kansas City could do with the salary cap space freed by a deal extending Jones is where things start to get interesting.
“They’re pretty committed to doing this deal,” Fowler said of the Chiefs extending Jones. “They’d like to preferably do it before training camp in late July. If they can’t maybe (the holdout) bleeds into the first few days of training camp. But they’re committed to doing it. The $28-million-dollar cap hit for Jones would at that point be greatly reduced, which would free up some money if they do want to go chase say a DeAndre Hopkins. They’ve been linked to Hopkins in the past months. And maybe the stars align here, because Hopkins as we continue to hear, has been in no major rush to sign. He’s been willing to wait. The Titans and the Patriots, still involved, so we’ll see how that shakes out.”
As long as Hopkins is still available as a free agent, he’ll continue to be connected to the Chiefs. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes both have told media members that they’re pleased with the wide receiver room thus far, so an addition there might be a luxury rather than a necessity.
However, that’s not the only option the Chiefs have when it comes to using cap space freed in a Jones extension. Fowler mentioned the possibility of the team extending former 2020 fourth-round draft pick L’Jarius Sneed after a Jones deal gets done.
“Also, cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, considered a core piece of the Chiefs,” Fowler continued. “He’s a 2024 free agent, they could try to re-sign him after Jones.”
Sneed has been a big part of the team’s defensive success over the past three seasons and locking him into an extension early could be beneficial for Kansas City with deals for players like Nick Bolton and Creed Humphrey also on the horizon.
