{"id":647889,"date":"2026-01-02T10:52:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647889\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T10:52:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T10:52:27","slug":"chiefs-chris-jones-addresses-nfl-future-amid-travis-kelce-retirement-buzz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/647889\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs\u2019 Chris Jones Addresses NFL Future Amid Travis Kelce Retirement Buzz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">This season was disappointing for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nfl-chiefs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, as they fell from their previous high spot among the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nfl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a>&#8216;s elite teams. With a late-season injury to quarterback Patrick Mahomes and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/travis-kelce\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Travis Kelce<\/a>&#8216;s retirement decision looming, many are wondering if this could be the end of a dynasty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Another player who is a longtime member of the team&#8217;s successful runs in recent years is defensive tackle Chris Jones. The 31-year-old became a member of the Chiefs in 2016 and hasn&#8217;t looked back, achieving three Super Bowl rings alongside Mahomes and Kelce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">However, many individuals are wondering if, after 10 years, he might decide to move on to another team or pursue life away from playing football. With a game against the Las Vegas Raiders approaching, Jones was among those speaking at a team press conference on New Year&#8217;s Day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nfl\/green-bay-packers-give-jordan-love-injury-update-before-playoffs-11294275\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Green Bay Packers Give Jordan Love Injury Update Before Playoffs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11294697\" alt=\"Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones\" caption=\"KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 28: Chris Jones #95 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Michael Owens\/Getty Images)\" captionoverride=\"KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - SEPTEMBER 28: Chris Jones #95 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 28, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Michael Owens\/Getty Images)\" credit=\"Photo by Michael Owens\/Getty Images\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"6923\" height=\"4615\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2238265482.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">&#8220;That&#8217;s the plan. As long as they keep me here, I&#8217;m here,&#8221; he said, also responding to a question about whether he wants to remain part of the Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cThat\u2019s always been a plan. You know, I admire Kobe Bryant for his longevity, his commitment to one organization, and how it shaped him as a player. So I always planned from the beginning to retire as a Chief,\u201d Jones <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=knLfAKmSsPA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told reporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">With a 6-10 record, the Chiefs ended up on the outside looking in for the playoff picture for the first time in Jones&#8217;s 10 years. Expectations failed, but that doesn\u2019t appear to be holding Jones back from wanting to continue his career as part of the Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Meanwhile, many individuals expect Travis Kelce to announce his retirement from the NFL once this season ends. That could arrive soon after their final game against the Raiders, or he might take time to reconsider his Chiefs career and add more championships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Like Kelce, Jones has been a key contributor to Kansas City\u2019s success, playing in no fewer than 13 games each season since entering the league in 2016. He\u2019s racked up 310 combined tackles, 80.5 sacks, and two interceptions, one of which resulted in him getting a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">He doesn&#8217;t appear ready to leave. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle admitted this has been a season characterized by &#8220;adversity,&#8221; but he seems to embrace those opportunities and what they teach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cI appreciate the challenges. You learn a lot about yourself when you have a lot of tough times,\u201d he said regarding the past season, also indicating that the team will look to build momentum toward next season with Sunday&#8217;s game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nfl\/steelers-aaron-rodgers-offers-big-update-on-nfl-future-11291422\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers\u2019 Aaron Rodgers Offers Big Update on NFL Future<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">For more about the Green Bay Packers and the NFL, head to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Newsweek Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This season was disappointing for the Kansas City Chiefs, as they fell from their previous high spot among&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2025,7,110,6,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-647889","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-chris-jones","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-travis-kelce"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115825131342151319","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}