The Kansas City Chiefs have their work cut out for them this season. As the defending Super Bowl champions, they will have a massive target on their backs as everyone will want to knock them off. Repeating as champions is not easy, especially when your roster isn’t at 100 percent.

The Chiefs aren’t dealing with any major injuries. Instead, their best defender, defensive tackle Chris Jones, is holding out. Jones is seeking a contract extension and his representatives have been trying to work out a deal.

To this point, nothing has gotten close to being done. Jones is seeking a market resetting kind of deal, as he wants to reach or surpass the most recent extension that Aaron Donald signed with the Los Angeles Rams.

This development is something that has surprised plenty of people within the organization. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has stood behind Jones as he wants to see his teammate receive the kind of contract that he deserves. But, even he admitted that he didn’t believe it would drag on this long.

“I don’t think anyone expected him not to be here now, but that’s part of the contract negotiation stuff. I’m not looking down on him for anything like that. He has stuff that he’s tried to get done that he feels like he needs to, to get done right now. I respect his decision,” he said.

The defensive tackle market boomed this offseason and Jones wants to be part of it. If he doesn’t receive the kind of offer that he is seeking, he has no qualms about sitting out regular season games. 

Remaining away from the team until Week 8 is something that has been tossed around. That is something Mahomes certainly hopes doesn’t occur.

“Not necessarily. I know that stuff, contract stuff, is hard to talk about because everybody wants to make money for their entire family and everything like that, but I know how much Chris loves the Chiefs. He loves being part of this organization.

“I just try to stay out of it and just tell Chris that I love him and that whenever he does come back, he will be welcome with open arms and we know that he’s preparing himself so that when he does get back, he can be that dominant player that he always has been.”

Replacing Jones would be an impossibility for the Chiefs at this point. Unless they pulled off a miraculous trade for Donald himself, there isn’t a player on the roster that can replicate the impact Jones has had on the team.

Last season he had a career-high tying 15.5 sacks, finishing second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. Without him in the lineup, this Chiefs defense will have a huge void. Hopefully, both sides can get a deal hammered out in the near future as Kansas City needs him on the field if they have any hopes of repeating this season.