Chris Jones Reflects on Holdout: 'I Probably Would Change Some Things'
It was an awkward end to an awkward process, but defensive tackle Chris Jones is still a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, and he took part in his first practice of the 2023 season on Wednesday. Before practice, Jones spoke to the media about his holdout, his new one-year contract and how his saga played out over the course of the summer.
Even as Jones maintained that he was happy with his agent representation and his surprisingly short reworked deal, he did acknowledge that there were things he likely would have managed differently, given the opportunity to do it all over again.
"I probably would change some things," Jones said. "When you have a lot of new guys, it’s kind of tough to be away. Especially in the d-line room, building that chemistry is important to be successful as a group. But those are the decisions you have to live with. I wouldn’t probably change it, but I’m grateful for how it turned out. I’m grateful for the Hunt Family, Brett Veach, and Coach Reid for working with my team closely to make sure we ensure that we come to terms with something that we can both agree on."
Jones was asked what specifically he would change in retrospect.
"Probably change my vacation spot," Jones said.
Adam Teicher of ESPN followed up. "St. Joseph, Mo., by chance?"
"Probably so, right?" Jones responded.
Since Jones's deal only runs through this season (and doesn't prohibit the Chiefs from placing the franchise tag on him next offseason), Jones may actually be in a position to take a second attempt at a long-term contract negotiation with the Chiefs. Alternatively, the Chiefs and Jones could move on in a number of ways this offseason.
Regardless of what's next, Jones maintains that he and the Chiefs' decision-makers still have a great relationship, even telling a story about a group chat that stayed active during the holdout.
"It’s never personal," Jones said. "I don’t think I’ve started hating Coach Reid or disliking Veach. I love Veach! He knows I love him. We had on-and-off conversation throughout it all. Coach Reid, I love him too, me and him still call and text. We actually got a group text. Veach said that I retweeted a picture where it was like, ‘Chris Jones after season, Chris Jones offseason’ where I was big with no neck, and we actually had a little joke about that through the midst of it, so I don’t think our relationship was affected any by that. They know how much I love this organization, they know how much I love this team."
