Chris Jones Has $1.25 Million on the Line in the Chiefs' Week 18 Game

While the regular season didn't go quite as smoothly as the preseason plans would have suggested, the Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season in a rather comfortable position. After a Week 17 win, the club is locked into the third spot in the AFC standings. No matter what happens in the regular-season finale, the defending Super Bowl champs will be playing at home during the wild-card round.

That's not the perfect scenario—you'd rather be locked into the top spot, complete with home-field advantage and a first-run bye—but it does give coach Andy Reid and his squad one extra benefit. With nothing to play for in Week 18, most of the starters can have a day off.

Defensive tackle Chris Jones, however, might not want that breather. And if you think back to the holdout that started the 2023 campaign, you'll understand why. The defensive lineman has 1.25 million reasons to suit up on Sunday and try to chase down Chargers quarterback Easton Stick.

Half a Sack Away From a $1.25 Million Bonus

If you think back to the start of the 2023 campaign, you'll remember that Jones and the Chiefs hammered out an updated version of this year's contract. While the lineman's base salary remained the same, the incentives gave him a chance to earn a bit more.

Now that the dust has largely settled on the season, we can assess his progress toward those goals.

Neither playing time incentives should be an issue, but both only provide relatively small financial potatoes. A million dollars for being named a first-team All-Pro and Super Bowl LVIII appearance seems a bit more farfetched; while anything can happen in the playoffs, the Chiefs offense hasn't looked like conference champion material. The same can be said for the $2 million bonus for both the Defensive Player of the Year title and a Super Bowl LVIII win. Beyond the (comparative) long shot of KC winning the Big Game, Jones hasn't really figured into this year's DPOY conversation.

And then there are two sack-based incentives. Jones would receive $1.25 million for taking down the quarterback 10 times and another $500,000 for reaching the 15 threshold.

Heading into Week 18, Jones is sitting on 9.5 sacks. That puts the $1.25 million payday within touching distance. The catch, however, is that he'll have to play in order to reach that milestone.

And given Week 18's context, seeing the field isn't a given.

Will Jones Play on Sunday?

During his Wednesday media availability, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid noted that Jones wasn't practicing due to a groin spasm. That doesn't sound like a major issue, but it's still possible that the club will want to take advantage of this weekend's lack of stakes and let the big lineman rest.

It's also worth noting that we already know KC will hold Patrick Mahomes out of the action, suggesting it's possible other stars will follow suit.

Reid, for his part, didn't show too much of his hand. When asked about getting players who were close to milestones into the game, he said: "It depends, depends on what the milestone is."

There was a follow-up about Travis Kelce's chase for 1,000 receiving yards; the head coach said he would see how things go.

That all combines to suggest that we'll have to wait and see what happens on Sunday. It wouldn't be shocking, though, to see Jones get a bit of action.

Reid is known as a player's coach, and it would be incredibly out of character for him to stick it to Jones by refusing to dress him. It's also worth noting that defensive line is a relatively safe position, at least by NFL standards. Could Jones still tweak a hamstring or roll his ankle? Of course, but it's not like he's going to get blown up on a crossing route across the middle.

In the Chiefs' ideal game plan, Jones could see a bit of action, get his sack—he only needs .5 of the tackle, which makes things even easier—and then hit the showers. He'll then get the best of both worlds, with a little bit of work balanced out by some extra rest.

Oh yeah, and an extra $1.25 million in his pocket.

But then again, things haven't exactly gone according to plan for the current version of the Chiefs. And maybe Week 18 has another twist waiting in the wings.