Chris Jones ending holdout from Chiefs is nice for now but suggests a future elsewhere

You could consider Chris Jones ending his holdout with the Chiefs a compromise, classically defined by each side making concessions. Maybe before long we’ll know what finally broke the stalemate. And perhaps however it was reconciled will turn out to have a surprising element of promise for a future between them.

But at least until we learn more about the ticktock of events that led to Jones and the Chiefs reaching a one-year agreement, reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter to be built around multiple incentives on top of the $19.5 million salary for which he was already under contract, we’re left to surmise this:

He’ll return to the Chiefs now for the most pivotal season of his career — and a potentially momentous season in franchise history.

And then it seems likely he’ll move on in free agency.

It’s a short-term victory for both, really, given that the Chiefs will have back an All-Pro defender who compiled 15 1/2 sacks last season and that Jones will have the chance to demonstrate that he’s worth the longer-term windfall he’d been seeking.

But the long-term takeaway is in the very fact that they couldn’t find the sweet spot for a breakthrough deal.

Despite the fact the Chiefs considered him essential to their Super Bowl repeat hopes and Jones sat out offseason organized team activities, training camp, the entire preseason and the Chiefs’ season opener while being fined more than $2 million to make his point.

If not now, in other words, then when on an extension?

While nothing matters more than the present for either side, and his return now is a fine thing for all concerned, the idea that this couldn’t get done both sooner and longer suggests sides so entrenched as to have recognized irreconcilable differences in the long run … but astute enough to at least salvage the here and now.

Surely, this can all change over the course of the season for one reason or another or by way of any number of unforeseeable circumstances. And at least without knowing the explicit terms of this deal, it’s still conceivable the Chiefs could put a franchise tag on Jones next season.

But as of today, this reflects a reprieve from an irresistible force-vs.-immovable object battle but no fundamental change in the dynamics. And no real reason to think that’s coming.

Let’s assume for argument’s sake that there is no resentment from either side over the last few months.

Accept at his word Chiefs general manager Brett Veach when he said in a statement Monday that he’d like to “thank Chris and his representation, Michael and Jason Katz, for their desire and patience to get this done. Through this process, two things were obvious (:) Chris wanted to be a Chief, and the Katz brothers worked diligently on his behalf.”

Figure the same coming from Jones last week, when he said he didn’t think there was any animosity between his camp and Veach, and referred to the negotiations as “just a little disagreement.”

Even if it really was all that simple, even if each side felt the other was operating in good faith all along, the bottom line is that still wasn’t enough to make it work in ways either side would have preferred: a long-term commitment that Jones wanted and, for the Chiefs, sewing up one of the most dynamic defensive linemen in the NFL to anchor their defense for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, beyond both sides publicly making nice, as they should, it’s also hard to know if the negotiations were as cordial as all that. And what the ramifications of any lingering tensions between them might be.

At least, though, that’s now somewhat happily another matter for another time.

What changed since last week, when Jones alternately said he was seeking a raise and an extension, is unclear.

This is mere speculation, but it’s easy to imagine that watching from the stands as the Chiefs lost their opener to Detroit 21-20 might have struck an emotional chord.

Whatever the reason, though, it matters less than the result.

The Chiefs need Jones this season if they’re going to fulfill their potential, though it remains to be seen how ready he might be to play Sunday at Jacksonville; Jones has said he’s in great shape, but there’s a distinct difference between that and football-game ready.

As for his own cause, Jones, who will turn 30 next year, needs another stellar performance this season if he’s going to cash in, as he believes he’s due, going forward.

That’s why it was increasingly against his own self-interests to keep holding out.

Doing so also made his oft-stated proclamations of wanting to be a “Chief for life” ring hollow in the process — not to mention hover at odds with his contradictory stance.

It even left us wondering how his approach was going over in a locker room in which Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce have left considerable money on the table to enable the Chiefs to have financial flexibility for such investments as signing Jones.

At least now Jones and the Chiefs can start putting that behind them and getting on into a season in which they still need each other.

Even as the circumstances of his return are an apparent statement about the steep challenge in their relationship going forward.