NFL Rumors: 4 Chris Jones landing spots that would break up Chiefs dynasty

The Kansas City Chiefs have a master plan to re-sign Chris Jones and L'Jarius Sneed. The first step was placing the franchise tag on Sneed, who has been given permission to seek a trade suitor willing to give him a long-term deal.

If the Chiefs can keep Sneed on the tag, which is a short-term, high AAV deal, then signing both he and Jones is in play. Should Sneed find a trade partner, Kansas City will replace him with Trent McDuffie and turn their focus to Jones.

However, each day that goes by makes it more likely that Jones reaches free agency, which begins in just a few days time. If Jones is available on the open market, the Chiefs won't be the only team negotiating with the former All-Pro.

In the meantime, Jones has been keeping track of his contract negotiations on social media, including on Thursday.

Jones is expected to earn a long-term contract worth over $28 million per season. Pass-rushers are valued in the modern NFL, as they are a one-stop shop to stopping even the best quarterbacks. Were an opposing team to sign Jones, they would not have the means to replace his production. If he signed with a rival, the Chiefs would be in an awkward position, and possibly one they might not recover from.

While that sounds extreme for a team which just won back-to-back Super Bowls, it's a dose of reality for Chiefs fans. Brett Veach has a very important job this offseason, and it starts with re-signing Jones. Any other outcome would be a failure.

4. Chris Jones could sign with the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions defense could use some upgrades. For a team on the rise, the Lions have a surprising number of weaknesses on that side of the ball. Specifically, their pass defense was at times abysmal during the regular season. The solution to that is adding better players to the secondary and improving the pass rush.

Aiden Hutchinson is solid. Just imagine how good he would be with Chris Jones across from him. While the Chiefs and Lions reside in separate conferences, they'd be a legitimate threat to face Kansas City in next year's Super Bowl even without Jones. With him, the Chiefs are in big trouble.

ESPN's Aaron Schatz ($) predicted that a Lions would be a suitor for Jones in February:

"There will be talk about a lot of veterans joining the Lions to try to break the curse and get them to the Super Bowl. But the best choice would be a player who already has won three of them: Jones of the Chiefs."

Detroit won its first playoff game since the early-90's last season. Adding Jones could help take the Lions to the next level.