The standoff between the Kansas City Chiefs and star defensive tackle Chris Jones has gone on longer than anyone could have anticipated. As a result, the Chiefs could be taking the field on Thursday Night Football against the Detroit Lions without their best defensive player.

It is anyone’s guess how close the two sides are to hammering out a new deal. Negotiations have been going on for weeks, but Jones offered a little bit of insight into what is going on. During an appearance at a charity event for the team at the Ronald McDonald House of Kansas City, he revealed that he is “asking for a raise.”

“I can’t really talk about it,” Jones said when asked about the negotiations. “Hopefully it gets worked out.

“It’s always been my goal to be a Kansas City Chief for life. I’ve said that multiple times on social media platforms, from interviews — and they know where my position is at. Hopefully, we can get something worked out for the long term.”

We could start to see some movement on the Jones front now that the San Francisco 49ers have agreed to an extension with star pass rusher, Nick Bosa. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year agreed to a five-year, $170 million extension with $122.5 million guaranteed.

That blows away the previous high AAV Aaron Donald received from the Los Angeles Rams ($31.7 million) and the guaranteed money T.J. Watt received from the Pittsburgh Steelers ($80 million). Jones was looking for a record-setting deal of his own, as the Chiefs now have a benchmark to work with.

The other question that people were curious about finding an answer to was how soon could Jones get on the field. “If a deal gets done, I can be out there tomorrow,” Jones said.

That is certainly encouraging for the Chiefs and should incentivize them to get a deal done. If he isn’t in the lineup, Kansas City could be without a star on both sides of the ball. Tight end Travis Kelce is also nursing a knee injury suffered during practice on Tuesday.