Tag: chris jones chiefs

Chris Jones re-signs with Chiefs; becomes highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history

The Kansas City Chiefs and Chris Jones agreed to a new deal that makes Jones the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history.

The long contractual standoff between the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive lineman Chris Jones is over. On Saturday night, Jones’ agents, Katz Brothers Sports, announced on social media that the deal had been done.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jones will receive $95 million guaranteed with the new five-year deal, which makes him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive tackle ever.

Jones, who was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2016 draft out of Mississippi State, had among his best seasons in 2023, with 15 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, and 53 quarterback hurries, including two quarterback hits and four quarterback hurries in Kansas City’s win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.

The Chiefs are attempting to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls, and getting Jones re-signed before free agency begins next week is a crucial step in that process.

The Chiefs’ defense is good again, and Chris Jones is the main reason why

The Chiefs’ defense has enjoyed a serious uptick since Chris Jones moved back inside, and Jones had a career day against the Cowboys.

In the first half of the 2021 season, the defending AFC champion Chiefs had a serious defensive problem. One of the many issues is that the pass rush wasn’t happening, and that coincided with the decision to move defensive lineman Chris Jones outside to more of a traditional edge-rush position. Jones grabbed two sacks in the season opener against the Browns, but there was a pretty decent drought after that — Jones came into Sunday’s game against the Cowboys with just three sacks and 33 total pressures. Jones missed Weeks 5 and 6 with a wrist injury, and the time off gave defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo the time to make the right choice — putting Jones back inside for the most part where he belongs. In Weeks 1-4, Jones played 181 snaps at end or outside linebacker, and just 19 snaps at defensive left or right tackle. In Weeks 7-10, Jones played 84 snaps outside, and 74 snaps inside.

Is it a coincidence that the Chiefs had won three of the four games since Jones’ return and placement where he should be? Not really. And was it a coincidence that in the Chiefs’ 19-9 win over the Cowboys and their usually tough offense, Jones had a banner day on the inside?

Not at all. Jones exploded in this game for a career-high 3.5 sacks (which should have been four solo sacks), two tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits. He also deflected a pass that led to Prescott’s game-sealing interception…

…forced a Prescott fumble on one of his sacks, and recovered a Prescott fumble on Frank Clark’s Prescott sack. It was Jones’ best game since his epic performance in Super Bowl LIV against the 49ers — one that should have resulted in Jones winning the MVP award for the game.

Why Chiefs DL Chris Jones should have been MVP of Super Bowl LIV

This time around, it was all about the pressure, and how the Chiefs applied it. Spagnuolo and the Chiefs knew that blitzing Dak Prescott is usually a recipe for disaster — Prescott came into this game with a preposterous 16 touchdowns and just three interceptions against the blitz — and the Chiefs had allowed 10 touchdown passes to just one interception when they blitzed opposing quarterbacks this season. In this game, while the Chiefs showed a lot of pre-snap blitz looks, putting up to eight defenders up at the line, they never brought more than four defenders on any of Jones’ four sacks.

And on Jones’ fourth sack of the day, he just vaporized Cowboys guard Zack Martin, who hadn’t allowed a sack since Week 1… of the 2020 season.

The Chiefs’ defense is definitely back — not at a top-5 level, but good enough to keep the Chiefs in contention, and as long as Patrick Mahomes and the offense can stay solid on that side of the ball, it’s all good.

Chiefs DL Chris Jones demolishes Cardinals LT D.J. Humphries for sack

Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones has been great for a long time. A move to the outside of the line might make him even better.

D.J. Humphries of the Cardinals finished seventh in Touchdown Wire’s most recent ranking of the NFL’s top 11 offensive tackles. Humphries did so by allowing just three sacks, two quarterback hits, and 18 quarterback hurries in the 2020 season — he also improved as a run blocker. The point we’re trying to make here is that D.J. Humphries is a very good player.

What D.J. Humphries is not, is a player who could handle Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones on a preseason sack of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Jones, who had 7.5 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, and 39 quarterback hurries in 2020, is starting up where he left off last season. And on this play, Jones made Humphries look like a Division III rookie.

Yeah, Humphries is still wondering what happened there. Jones’ sack at defensive end is significant, because the Chiefs have planned to move Jones outside more frequently this season to take advantage of his ridiculous athleticism. General manager Brett Veach, head coach Andy Reid, and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo are confident that a most-of-the-time defensive tackle who had just 47 snaps outside the tackles last season, and 362 in his NFL career, has the chops to make it happen as an edge-rusher.

Why Chris Jones’ move to defensive end actually makes sense for Chiefs

“He is an imposing player inside,” Spagnuolo said in June, per Charles Goldman of Chiefs Wire. “We all know that. Hopefully, we will gain something on the edge. When somebody changes a position, obviously the first part of it is the mental part of it. Chris is working through that. That’s important when you change a position. It’s just not that easy to pick up a whole new spot. There are some different things with a defensive end.

“He’ll play out there a little bit. We’ll move him back inside when we have to.”

Not that this has taken anything away from Jones’ disruptiveness on the inside — in Kansas City’s preseason debut against the 49ers last week, Jones got a sack of quarterback Trey Lance by forklifting right guard Daniel Brunskill right into the pocket.

Jones has been a great player for a long time — I made the argument that he should have been the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LIV — and it appears that the addition of more outside reps will make even more of a problem for every defense the Chiefs face in 2021.

“Listen man, I’ve been eager to get back on the field and hit someone else other than Pat Mahomes and the freaking offense,” Jones said this week. “Because Coach Reid’s play calling is farfetched. You know, running screens, boots, and you might come back with a jab-duel, it’s different. So, to be able to play somebody that’s regular is fun.”

Well, most every quarterback is “regular” when compared to Patrick Mahomes. It could also be said that most defensive linemen are pretty ordinary when compared to Chris Jones.