Chris Jones threatens to Hold Out

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Great post. Thanks for that.

The 3 options are:

1. Force him to play on Franchise tag (if he plays), but risk team morale and also have diminished leverage in 2021

2. Trade him while his value will never be higher, but lose a critical star player
What's your preference?

That’s a tough one, for me it all depends on what’s being offered in return. I honestly think the DeForest Buckner trade kneecapped the Chiefs leverage in multiple ways. I'm guessing the Chiefs would have never sent Jones to an ascending AFC competitor like the Colts for obvious reason (which never made the Colts a viable trading partner) But the move also locked in Jones price at 21m/year (which the Chiefs seem against spending) and it also may have ended the Chiefs hopes of other teams getting into a bidding war for Jones’ services. I worry that the compensation for a trade at this point will be in the Marcus Peters range (2nd and a 4th) rather than in the Buckner range.

If the Chiefs DO get a 1st round offer from an NFC team, I wonder if the Chiefs would take it. For one, it prevents Jones from going to an AFC rival and gives Chiefs some control over where he goes, but if the Chiefs are only getting marginal offers for Jones, I think the Chiefs should go with the tag and maybe offer a 1/22 deal as an olive branch to max out his year compensation. This gives them the option to reassess their cap space after locking up Mahomes and if the NFL adds significantly more room after next season. My biggest fear with this scenario is that it could allow Jones to become the 2020's Neil Smith and go straight to the Raiders or another AFC heavy hitter, and with our weaknesses on the IOL that is straight up nightmare fuel to imagine Jones going after Pat 2-3 times a year. Luckily, we now have the star QB on our roster who can over come taking that type of pressure in high stakes situations, but it's still not a scenario that's fun to think about.

But, if the Chiefs surprise everyone with a 5/105 deal, I won’t be against that either. I have complete faith in the Chiefs FO at this point.