The Kansas City Chiefs’ biggest obstacle between now and kickoff against the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football is working out a contract extension with star defensive tackle Chris Jones. Jones has not been with the team in months, as he is holding out for a new contract extension.

He is reportedly seeking a deal that is near the top of the defensive tackle market. The three-year, $90 million extension that Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams is on has been used as a potential benchmark.

Tough negotiations are nothing new to the Chiefs. They have moved on from multiple players in recent years who were looking for mega contracts, including wide receiver Tyreek Hill and offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

But, it doesn’t seem like they are interested in moving on from Jones. He is a key part of their defense and without him, things could get ugly on that side of the ball. While his availability for Week 1 is certainly in question, the Chiefs can possibly see the end of the tunnel.

According to reports, the gap between the Chiefs and Jones has shrunk considerably. Per Nick Wright via JPAFootball on X, formerly known as Twitter, there is a $9.5 million difference between the two sides.

That isn’t an insurmountable gap for both parties to close. They have been working vigorously on getting a deal done as no one expected the holdout to last this long. Teammates such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are looking forward to having Jones back in the lineup with them.

With Charles Omenihu set to serve a six-game suspension, the Chiefs cannot afford to be without Jones as well. That would leave them dangerously thin along the defensive front, where they also lost or parted ways with Khalen Saunders, Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap.