Late on Monday afternoon, we discovered that the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and defensive sort out Chris Jones had agreed on a brand new one-year contract that may substitute the ultimate yr of his current contract — and finish his holdout for a contract extension.
However that’s all the knowledge we got.
On Tuesday morning, a few of the contract particulars are trickling out — beginning with this tidbit from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Supply: #Chiefs’ new cope with Chris Jones doesn’t embody a no-franchise-tag clause. So, the workforce reserves proper to tag him in 2024.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 12, 2023
This ends the hypothesis that the workforce gave Jones a no-trade clause.
Professional Soccer Speak’s Mike Florio revealed some extra particulars.
He will get $1 million for taking part in 35 p.c of the defensive snaps. He will get one other $1 million for taking part in 50 p.c of the snaps.
He had an current $1.25 million incentive for reaching 10 sacks. That now will increase to $1.75 million if he has 15 sacks.
Additionally, he will get $1 million is he’s named a first-team All-Professional and if the Chiefs make it to the Tremendous Bowl. He will get one other $2 million if he’s named defensive participant of the yr and the Chiefs win the Tremendous Bowl.
These incentives whole $6.75 million. Added to his new base wage of $18.4 million ($19.5 million much less $1.1 million for lacking final Thursday’s recreation), Jones might earn $25.2 million in 2023.
Usually, we might now do a cautious evaluation of which elements of those incentives are likely-to-be-earned (LTBE) and which aren’t likely-to-be-earned (NLTBE), so we might work out how this new deal will have an effect on Jones’ salary-cap quantity for 2023. However on Tuesday, we discovered one thing new.
Clearing one thing up right here relating to the brand new Chris Jones contract with the #Chiefs: all incentives added to a contract after the season begins turn out to be not prone to be earned (NLTBE).
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) September 12, 2023
So only one a part of the entire $6.75 million in incentives was already in Jones’ contract: the $1.25 million incentive for reaching 10 sacks. This bonus was thought-about NLTBE in 2022, however was LTBE in 2023 after Jones had 15.5 sacks in 2022 — so it was already a part of his 2023 cap hit.
The implies that if Jones earns them, the $5.5 million in new incentives will all rely towards the 2024 cap. Jones’s 2023 cap quantity will really lower by the $1.1 million in wage he misplaced by not taking part in towards the Detroit Lions on Thursday evening, together with the unearned $500,000 exercise bonus that was beforehand a part of his cap hit for this season.
Jones will now rely $26.7 million towards the cap, which is $1.6 million lower than $28.3 million it had been earlier than. With this variation, Kansas Metropolis will likely be $6.1 million over the wage cap when the workforce prompts Jones from the Reserve/Did Not Report record.
Until the workforce additionally receives a roster exemption for Jones (which is possible) the workforce may even have to chop one other participant, thereby lowering the cap overage by quantity of the launched participant’s cap hit.
Which means earlier than Jones will be moved from Reserve/DNR, the workforce nonetheless has work to do on the wage cap — until Kansas Metropolis has chosen to transform a few of Jones’ $18.4 million base wage to a signing bonus. A few of that bonus might then be carried right into a void yr (and even void years) added to the top of his one-year contract.
Up to now, this isn’t a trick that Chiefs’ common supervisor Brett Veach has used to create cap area — however contemplating that the workforce is retaining its choice to franchise-tag Jones in 2024, void years won’t find yourself being void years in any case.