As the sports world remains under uncertainty due to coronavirus pandemic, the NFL offseason moves forward. Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid appeared on the team’s new local radio home 610 Sports Radio’s “Fescoe in the Morning” on Friday morning.
Reid shared his thoughts on Pro Bowl defensive lineman Chris Jones possibly receiving the franchise tag soon. In the past, the Chiefs head coach has expressed confidence in getting a long term deal done with Jones but things didn’t seem as promising during Friday’s interview.
“Chris is a part of this team — a big part of this team,” said Reid. “He helped us get where we were; it’s crazy because, in this business, we’re all expendable. That’s been proven over and over again. On the other hand, you’d like to keep everybody. But that’s not real.”
Jones had nine sacks in thirteen regular-season games and forced a turnover in the Chiefs Super Bowl LIV victory. The veteran defensive lineman is a leader in the locker room, and Reid made it clear he would personally like to have him back longterm.
”So would we like to keep Chris? Sure.” said Reid, ”But things happen in this business, and we’re all players and coaches. We’re all used to that, and so if he’s here, great, man. That’s a great thing. If he’s not, we’re going to keep plowing, man, and keep moving on, and we expect somebody else to step up and fill in that position. We get all of that. You’ve been in this thing long enough, I think we understand that. I think the fans understand that.”
Jones has been vocal about his unhappiness with the expected franchise tag, and things could get interesting once the official announcement is made. The Chiefs need to make some critical decisions soon to keep their core impact players happy before next season.
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