Brett Veach sounds positive about Chiefs’ ability to keep Chris Jones

The Kansas City Chiefs are currently negotiating a long term deal with star defensive tackle Chris Jones, and Brett Veach offered some updates.

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach took part in a joint presser at the NFL Combine on Tuesday, following up head coach Andy Reid. With the first official update for Chiefs’ Kingdom since before the Super Bowl, Veach tried to answer the offseason’s most pressing questions about the direction the Chiefs are going in the next few weeks.

Veach covered everything like Sammy Watkins’ contract negotiations, the cornerback situation, and, most excitingly, conversations with Chris Jones.

Questions about Jones’ status were asked immediately. Veach talked about how the Chiefs were having a dialogue with Jones and his camp and hoping to get a long-term deal done. However, Veach did not rule out the use of the franchise tag to retain the star defensive player saying, “It is something we have the ability to use.”

Veach mentioned that he has a meeting in the next few days with Jones and his camp, and is glad to have an ongoing dialogue with him claiming “all dialogue is good dialogue.” When asked if the Chiefs will be able to pay Jones a large sum, Veach offered praise for his cap staff and the people crunching the numbers to make the contracts work and explained, “It’s hard, but not impossible.”

The most surprising and encouraging part of the presser came when Veach was asked about the possibility of a tag-and-trade scenario. Veach expressed his concerns and hesitations towards that scenario. “When you’re giving up draft commodity and money… the team has to be in a position where it makes sense for them and you have to be in a position that you feel this would take you over that hump.”

Between his overwhelming praise and admiration for Jones, his comments about the contract negotiations, and his uninterested attitude towards a tag-and-trade situation, Veach sounded as if the Chiefs are not letting the star defensive lineman  play for another team next season.