Chiefs’ Chris Jones declares he will win 2023 Defensive Player of the Year in tweet

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, a 2022 First-Team All-Pro who turns 29 on July 3, is set to enter the 2023 season in the final year of his four-year, $80 million contract he signed back in the 2020 offseason, and he’s made it clear how important securing his next deal is by skipping the defending Super Bowl champion’s mandatory minicamp. On Wednesday, Jones declared he’s coming for his first Defensive Player of the Year award, definitively stating he’s going to be the NFL’s top defender in 2023.

Jones finished third in DPOY voting last season behind San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa, who led the NFL in sacks with 18.5 and co-led the league in quarterback pressures with 90, and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who also co-led the league in quarterback pressures with 90. Jones tied his career high in sacks with 15.5, the fourth most in the league, while ranking fifth in quarterback pressures with 77 last season. 

In terms of what the type of deal Jones could be looking for, three-time DPOY winner and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s three-year, $95 million contract tops the interior defensive line market in both total value and average per year. Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons‘ four-year, $94 million deal ranks second in both categories. Kansas City currently ranks last in the NFL in cap space available for 2023 ($409,942), according to OverTheCap.com, but the Chiefs are projected to have $51.2 million in cap room available in the 2024 offseason, the 12th most in the entire league. General manager Brett Veach could get creative with the structure of a potential Jones deal to make it work for their cap going forward, something he said he believes will eventually get done.