Chris Jones Situation
 

First off, I would absolutely choose to keep Jones if they can.

However, if a situation comes up where they just can't make it work and they're gonna move on from him, say the Panthers call and offer the #7 pick.

You make that deal immediately, right?

Pick 7? Yeah probably.

But I can’t imagine that being an option. Especially for a QB needy team.

Chiefs are in a bind. Jones is one of 3 game wreckers on the defensive side of the ball. If they pay him, they will have around $52-56M AAV committed to just Jones, Clark, and Mathieu. But they’re game changers, and they’re the primary reason the defense is pretty good now. So what do you do?

I hope like hell we can win it all this year so that either way, the decision isn’t quite at difficult to look at. There’s pros and cons either way.

Man, it's tough because like you said, Jones is potentially the best and most important defender. You paid Clark and Mathieu already, but damn.

I'd pay him, hope he stays healthy.

They are going to pay him with the plan that the staff keeps getting the most out of low cost players like Ogbah, D. Wilson, Breeland and our draft picks.

yeah, I think with the new agreement looming in which the cap number should go up substantially, I think we can pay him and Pat.

But I think the days of signing big FA's are probably over. It's going to be bargain shopping and drafting. If THIS draft is any indication, we'll be fine.

Pay Jones and keep him a Chief for life.

If I could spin Jones for a top 15 pick I'd do it in a heart beat.

Why? Because the way this team is structured we need young cheap controllable talent more than anything. Having 2 first rounders allows us to address our main needs on the Offensive Line and Linebacker. With Mahomes you got to keep this roster young, talented, and cheap.

Just hard to sink all that money into Clark and Jones. Which sucks, but it is what it is.

Especially if it were pick 7. I mean, you could have Okudah and say, the best C prospect for 5 years on rookie deals.

Yep, I wouldn't even blink.

I don’t see any scenario where we’re offered the #7 pick for Chris Jones.

Yeah big fish free agent signings are done for at least a couple years I’d say. And that’s totally fine, we aren’t short for blue chip talent.

I'm not so sure.

Bengals take a QB
Washington takes Young
Miami takes a QB
Chargers take a QB

And then you have the Giants at 4 who could trade down. So if you are the Panthers and drafting 8th, and Burrow, Herbert, and Tua are off the board, what do you do?

I don't know, but I'd rather have Chris Jones in front of Kuechly than one of those other defensive linemen. They can also take on a contract like that once they move on from Cam.

And I think they they try and turn it around quickly and bring Philip Rivers in for a couple years.

Teams aren’t going to offer a top 10 pick for Jones, as awesome as he is. Not when you have to pay him too.

They’ll take their chances on someone like Okudah who will be much cheaper for the next 5 years.

I'd imagine it would be someone at the end of the first that might make the deal.

Somene brought it up on twitter, but you could potentially have

A free agent CB, another vet and a late first or second round pick

or

Chris Jones.

I don't know about that decision.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

If this team gets that elusive ring this season, Jones is going to play a major role in it

You can't have top veterans at every position, that's why it's important to know when to cut bait and go with a less expensive younger stud. Nobody wants to lose top talent but in a salary cap world you have to make tough decisions. That's why Veach makes the big bucks.

You have to have strong lines. Neglect them at your peril.

Good line play makes everything behind and outside them better.

OR ruins the efforts of the other levels.

I have no problem investing heavily in the defensive line.

I would imagine that we will try to run this team like the Steelers did for many years with Ben. Never went on a big spending spree once they paid him, but got some good smaller deal guys and drafted mostly well.

If you have the right staff (we do) you can find cheap players and depth and rotational guys for cheap.

This decision may well make Veach either a hero or a turd.

I'm torn on it. I really like Jones. That said, I've watched New England for a decade and a half be a perennial contender and winner based on letting big contract guys walk or trade them at the right time and keep many more of the middle-tier guys. They don't have the bigtime guys, but nobody sucks either. I think it's just a better overall plan to have a solid of a roster from 1 to 53 as possible. With that, you also don't have the big dropoffs when players get injured.

I think, if it's a top half of the round pick, I'd strongly favor letting him go. I'd much rather replace him with our late pick with a guy like Marvin Wilson and gain a stronger player at LB or CB in the top 15.

Yeah but let’s address the elephant in the room...

New England has been cheating for a long, long time. They can’t be used as a reliable example.

I think we have a decent duo with Saunders and Nnadi and Pennel is good as well. I think we could have a solid DL even without Jones. If we could get a 1st and 4th for Jones we would have some decent ammunition to restock the roster and extra cap room to still add solid talent in FA.

Spags likes his defensive lines. I could see us keeping him.

I agree. May those smarmy ****s rot in the deepest depths of hell. **** all things Cheatriot.

However, it doesn’t mean the team building strategy is invalid. You don’t even have to look much further than our team.

Have Marcus Peters? Cool. We’ll throw at Gaines. Good at rushing the passer? Cool. Well run it down your throats because your IDL and LBs can’t fill a gap. Have Jared Allen and Tamba Hali? Cool well throw down the seam because Squirmin Herman Mother****ing Sack of **** Edwards runs Tampon 2. Think you can beat Cleveland? Cool. The LB you have spying Manziel can’t beat him to the edge and we’ll be a play away from embarrassing you with Johnny ****ing Manziel.

IMO Defensive team building needs to eliminate exploitable weaknesses before building a top of the league aspect of the defense.

Of course that’s easier said than done unless you know the opponents play calls, but that’s the say I see it after decades of underachieving Chief defenses.

Been stewing on this a little more lately cause Andy was talking about the importance of OL and DL in his presser yesterday.. made me think they probably really do wanna keep Jones.

But as much as I love him and believe that you have to win the LOS, you gotta have competent coverage to make that work. Otherwise QBs just negate your DL by getting the ball out.

Might be one of those deals where they trust Spags, Madison, Merritt, Badger, Thornhill to get young and/or cheap DBs up to speed and let the scheme do most of the work back there.

I think this exactly.

Jones has been playing scheme sound too, this last half-season, which was my only complaint about him.

He's the best DT in the NFL not named Aaron Donald. He's versatile, you can play him in or out. He and Clark make a stud duo when healthy.

CB is the most overvalued position salary-wise in the NFL. Mediocre corners get a ton of cash. You gotta draft and develop there.

IF your front 4 is bad-ass, it covers a lot of sins. With this coaching staff and the veteran leadership of Matthieu back there, I think we'd be okay.

I think you have to let Fuller walk. Hitchens June 1. Watkins, too.

You can re-sign Jones.

Agree. Very good take.

In the end I think its faith in Brendan Daly, plus the impact you can make on the roster and salary cap with the pick acquired from trading Jones. And it's not like the cupboard is bare if you let Jones walk.

You have the following guys under control:

Clark - age 27 - signed through 2023
Oakafor - age 28 - signed through 2021
Kpassagnon - age 25 - signed through 2020
Speaks - age 24 - signed through 2021

Nnadi - age 24 - signed through 2021
Saunders - age 24 - signed through 2022

The only guy that I could see not being on the roster next year is Oakafor. As a position group I think DL is pretty damn solid, especially if you can get a guys like Pennel and Ogbah back. The same can't be said about our LBs, DBs, TEs, and Oline. Which is why the picks Jones could bring would really help the roster moving forward.

I don’t think Fuller is going to command a ton on the market. And he has versatility with being able to play CB and S in this defense. I could see him signing with us this offseason. Breeland will leave because he wants that contract that he never got with the Panthers and his injury.

Sorensen needs to go.

And honestly it will be telling with how much Spags uses DOD in the playoffs. Is he finally learning his defense?

Coaching and scheme only go so far though. At some point, you need ass kickers and guys that can just **** plays up.

Did you guys see what Fletcher Cox did last weekend? Yeah, I think you keep JOnes around.

I’d see if Jones will accept a deal with a lower first year cap hit like the Mathieu contract. Then sign Mahomes to an extension which wouldn’t cost a ton next year. Dump Sorenson and Reiter. Find a new center and draft a couple of CBs. Or draft one and find a FA CB that’s looking for a one year prove it deal. I think Watts is good enough to be your third safety behind Thornhill and Mathieu.

I kinda think they’re gonna push to keep Fuller. Spagnuolo and Reid talked last week about how smart and versatile he is, and then Spags also mentioned how he likes to have cerebral DBs so he can mix and match their assignments.

Sounds like Fuller would be a keeper in their eyes.