Advice from Chiefs’ Frank Clark to tagged teammate Chris Jones: ‘Eyes off the media’
Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark has stayed in touch with teammate Chris Jones during the offseason.
The two close friends mostly discuss football, of course, but Clark said during a Wednesday Zoom call that they steer clear of the business side of the game.
Clark conceded he did offer Jones some advice on dealing with the franchise tag, which the Chiefs used on Jones in March.
“One thing that I told him, and the best advice I gave him, was keep his eyes off the media and off the Internet because there’s going to be something different every day,” Clark said. “And just staying focused on his every day, his norm, because if he gets out of that, that’s when things are going to get weird.”
Clark’s perspective should carry weight with Jones. He speaks from personal and professional experience.
Clark received a franchise designation when he was with the Seattle Seahawks in early 2019, so he understands what Jones is going through. Clark endured the hot takes on his future and would prefer that Jones not pay attention to such speculation.
“That what I did,” Clark said. “I probably let myself drift off to the media and started reading — ‘What are they going to say? Who’s going to say this and who’s saying I shouldn’t get this or whatever?’ But then, eventually, it just got to be like, ‘Man, I just need to not focus on that.’”
Clark’s contract situation in Seattle ultimately worked itself out. The Seahawks traded him to the Chiefs on April 23, 2019, and he promptly signed a five-year, $105 million deal in KC.
Clark wants Jones, who received the Chiefs’ non-exclusive franchise designation, to know that dealing with the business side of football is far from easy.
“It’s hard,” Clark said. “It’s a hard time because he wants to handle his stuff and wants to get a deal done, but he’s right now on the franchise tag. I just want to be able to have my teammate. That’s my dog.”
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has repeatedly made it clear that keeping Jones in Kansas City via a long-term deal is one of the organization’s top priorities.. The GM said the lines of communications have remained open between the Chiefs and Jones’ representatives.
“You can never put a definitive answer on anything, but we are certainly hopeful and confident,” Veach said the day after the 2020 NFL Draft concluded. “And we’re going to put in a lot of work from now until the start of camp.”
The Chiefs have time. Two months remain until the league-wide July 15 deadline to work out a long-term deal with Jones. If a new long-term agreement is not struck by then, Jones would play the 2020 season under the franchise designation for $16.1 million, provided he signs it.
Jones, who turns 26 on July 3, joined the Chiefs as a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He has since become one of the league’s top defensive linemen, with 33 sacks, including a career-high 15.5 in 2018, over the past four seasons.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Advice from Chiefs’ Frank Clark to tagged teammate Chris Jones: ‘Eyes off the media’."
