Chiefs rumors: Will Kansas City extend Chris Jones this offseason?

Here is the latest on what you need to know about the Kansas City Chiefs possibly extending their superstar defensive lineman Chris Jones ahead of next football season.

As long as the Kansas City Chiefs want to stay in the Super Bowl bubble, they need star players on the opposite side of the ball from Patrick Mahomes, none more important than Chris Jones.

The good news is ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes that is exactly what the Chiefs plan to do with Jones. Kansas City is in a bit of a cash-strapped situation, but the front office firmly understands just how important he is as the best player on Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Eventually, Jones’ athleticism will decline and the Chiefs will have to adjust. But in the meantime, just pay the man!

Here is what Fowler said on the matter on SportsCenter Friday with regards to Jones’ extension.

"“They’re pretty committed to doing this deal. 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 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 (Tennessee) Titans and the (New England) Patriots, still involved, so we’ll see how that shakes out.”"

Obviously, there is so much to unpack here after what Fowler said over on SportsCenter Friday.

NFL rumors: Kansas City Chiefs trying hard to extend Chris Jones this offseason

There is a very clear order of operations for Chiefs general manager Brett Veach in this. Extending Jones comes first. In doing so, it could free up some precious capital to pursue free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. While he remains unsigned, he could come to Kansas City, despite having made visits to two other AFC teams in the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans.

Once the Chiefs figure out what big figure it will require to keep Jones in Kansas City for the foreseeable future, they then must turn their attention towards possibly extending defensive back L’Jarius Sneed. While he has one more year under contract, one would think he would command quite the return if he hits the open market next spring. Sneed is a possible franchise tag candidate.

Look. This is what the Chiefs need to do. Extend Jones before training camp fully gets underway, see if you have any shot in the Hopkins sweepstakes and then go full-boar on trying to get Sneed extended before it is too late. Veach is one of the best in the business at roster building, but eventually, there is not going to be a large enough slice of pie for everyone who wants to eat in KC.

We have seen former Chiefs such as Orlando Brown Jr., Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman go to other teams. While Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce are probably never going to play for anyone else, who else could you say is on that untouchable list for the Chiefs besides maybe Jones at this point? Harrison Butker? Ownership, Veach and Andy Reid will remain, but changes do come.

For now, all signs point towards the Chiefs extending Jones this offseason so they can plan ahead.