Chris Jones has ‘mixed emotions’ about receiving Chiefs franchise tag

The Kansas City Chiefs used their franchise tag on Chris Jones and the defensive lineman says he has mixed emotions about it all.

The Kansas City Chiefs made their first move very quickly. On the first day that NFL teams could use the franchise tag, the Chiefs chose to use it on defensive tackle Chris Jones, giving the franchise a myriad of options and plenty of time to work out a long-term extension (or find another course of action). For his part, Jones says he has “mixed emotions” about the news.

Jones recently decided to sit in for an interview with Colin Cowherd in which he was asked about the news. Jones was equal parts professional and vulnerable and he handled the line of questioning very impressively.

“It’s like a mix of emotions because you figure, y’know, after four years, you do everything the right way within the team way and you try to stay under the line, out of trouble, and be a good citizen for a team and for the city, you expect to be rewarded,” said Jones.

Therein lies a great point for Jones. Last season, word leaked that he was planning on holding out but public sentiment wasn’t strongly in his favor and instead of forcing any drama for the team, Jones played nice and reported even though he was clearly frustrated. On and off the field, Jones has been more than what the Chiefs could have ever dreamed when they selected him in the second round back in 2016.

“When you get hit with a franchise tag, it can go different ways. You can feel like they’re not valuing you or they’re not valuing what you bring to the table or you can look at it as giving them time to get their horses in a cage and get something together,” said Jones.

When pressed, Jones agreed that it was hard. It’s a little hard. “It’s like, ‘Damn, what else you all want me to do? I gotta go and get 30 sacks, 35 sacks to show you all I can…” before halting his answer. From there, however, Jones clearly tried to maintain decorum and not let his emotions get the best of him in such an immediate media appearance.

Instead, Jones made sure that he articulated an understanding of the Chiefs perspective and what they have to do on the macro level to maintain this winning culture.

“It would be nice to get paid in Kansas City and stay with Mahomes,” he said. “What we’re building there is exceptional. I feel like we’re building a dynasty. For Brett Veach it’s about looking at the team and analyzing what you can lose and what you have to keep.”

You can hear the whole interview below: