Chris Jones and his Wife chilling,

Joseph, Missouri (AP) – Under a brilliant, beautiful sky on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs, the reigning Super Bowl champions, had their first full-squad practice of training camp without All-Pro defensive lineman Chris Jones.

Although his standout lineman has not yet reported for camp, coach Andy Reid says he is not concerned about his absence just yet.

“We’ll simply observe how things transpire here in the future,” Reid remarked after practice on Sunday. “There had been communication; we’ll take it from here and see where it goes.” We simply keep going if you’re not here; that’s how we operate. We don’t give that much thought. We got excellent people working on that, and we let it take care of itself.

While he looks for a new contract, Jones has not yet reported to camp. The 29-year-old has a salary cap impact of around $28.3 million and is expected to make $19.5 million in base pay this season.

Renegotiating his deal is also in the Chiefs’ best interests. The team has little more than $1 million in available cap space, according to the NFL Players Association’s public salary cap report released on Sunday.

During this time of year, general manager Brett Veach prefers to keep a balance of 5 to 10 million in cap space. Working out a new long-term deal with Jones would give the team much-needed salary cap relief and keep him in Kansas City past the 2023 campaign.

With a new contract in negotiations, Jones would become the second-highest paid player in the league for his position.

With an average yearly pay of $31.67 million, Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald is now the most paid player in the league. But Donald and Quinnen Williams, the No. 2 highest-paid tackle, are very different from one another. Williams inked a contract extension with the New York Jets earlier this month, worth an average of $24 million annually.

This leaves a big target area where Jones’s next extension might work. Reid alluded to a shift in tone when questioned about his contact with the standout defensive lineman, and his absence from camp signals the two sides are still at odds in the negotiations.

Reid stated, “It was good until just a little while ago.” “We’re doing our thing, they’re doing theirs. And from there, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Superstars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have big contracts from the Chiefs, but Mahomes is presently the seventh-highest paid quarterback at $45 million annually, while Kelce is the third-highest paid tight end at $14.3 million annually.

Clark Hunt, the club’s CEO and chairman, stated on Sunday that he isn’t concerned with the players’ pay rankings. Additionally, he believes Veach will make the best choice.

“We truly don’t consider it in terms of the highest-paid player in the league; rather, we consider it in terms of the Kansas City Chiefs and what’s best for the organization going forward as well as for this season,” stated Hunt.