Report: Kansas City Chiefs’ All-Pro Hoping He Will Be Allowed to Skip Out on Training Camp…

Kansas City Chiefs are the defending back-to-back Super Bowl Champions and are hoping to do what no team in NFL history has done: win three of them in a row (the Green Bay Packers won three-straight NFL Championships twice, but no team has won three-straight Super Bowls). Despite the distractions of this offseason, the Chiefs remain committed to this singular goal.

Of course, the distractions of this offseason are very different from the one they had last offseason. This year, wide receiver Rashee Rice made headlines for all the wrong reasons. He was involved in a high-speed car accident in Dallas, Texas in which he was reported to have been driving 119 miles per hour. Along with being charged with several felonies (including leaving the scene of the accident), he is being sued by both of the victims.

Kicker Harrison Butker created a stir with his far-right commencement speech in which he made controversial statements about women and their role in society. His speech also included verbal jabs at the LGBTQ+ community and Catholic Church leaders.

Former defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs was arrested twice. The second of these arrests was for domestic abuse and resulted in his release from the team.

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro Chris Jones Held Out for a New Contract Last Year

The 2022 NFL season saw Chiefs star defensive tackle Chris Jones have one of the best seasons of his career. He tied his career-high with 15.5 sacks while setting a career-high with 44 total tackles. He was named to the Pro Bowl, a First Team All-Pro, finished third in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting, and, of course, helped Kansas City win the Super Bowl.

Jones’ career season came at the right time for him. Up for a contract extension, he decided to hold out from team activities until he got the massive extension that he wanted.

Last year, contract negotiations between Jones and the Chiefs were tense. Neither side wanted to back down from their stance. Jones missed the organized team activities, training camp, and Week One of the regular season as he held out.

Eventually, he signed a one-year reworked deal to come back to the team, and earlier this offseason became the highest-paid interior defender in NFL history when he signed his new contract.

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro Chris Jones Wants to Skip Training Camp Again

Jones seemed to have liked spending time at home during training camp last year because he recently told The Kansas City Star (via NFL.com):

“I’ve already been talking to Andy about, ‘Let me skip out on training camp. I’m a little older, right?’” I can feel it. I can feel when we have a day on training camp. Give me like two days off and one day on then, and we maybe can work something out, you know?

“He just looked at me. So the conversation is still ongoing.”

Based on Jones’ description of Reid’s response, it does not seem likely that he will be allowed to miss training camp again.