Ravens Justin Madubuike’s $98 Million Deal Might Spell Trouble For Kansas City Chiefs and Chris Jones

The Baltimore Ravens are extending their star Defensive Tackle Justin Madubuike by giving him a 4-year $98 million deal with $75 million in guaranteed money. The Former Texas A&M defensive star had 13 sacks for the Ravens, the most by any Baltimore player in nine years will draw a salary of $24.5 million a year.

The Ravens lost the AFC Championship game last season against the Chiefs but are hoping to build on that and go all the way into the Super Bowl in the upcoming season. The deal comes at the time when the Chiefs are in favor of negotiating a contract extension with their star DT Chris Jones and Madubuike’s annual salary of $24.5 million will make it harder for the defending champions to convince Jones to stay for anything less than that, as hypothesized by Harold R. Kuntz.

Well, that averages out to $24 million a year .. more than the most earnings Chris Jones made in a season (per Spotrac at $23.624 million in 2022) so CJ and representation will certainly seek a bit more of that number. https://t.co/KlF4dvUyC3

— Harold R. Kuntz (@HaroldRKuntz3) March 8, 2024

As per Spotrac, the Chiefs star Defensive Tackle is currently valued at $28.5 million per year, so anything less than that means the Chiefs might have to entertain the idea of losing him to free agency. Drafted by Kansas City in 2016, he is now an 8-year veteran and had 10.5 sacks last season.

With the market for both the QB and the receivers blowing up, it is time for DT to demand more. However, Madubike’s $24.5 million still doesn’t make him the highest player in his position on the list of highest-paid Tackle in the league, a list that Chris Jones will soon want to be part of again as he approaches free agency.

Highest Paid Athletes at Chris Jones position

Tackles- both defensive and offensive are two of the most important positions in gridiron football. Both are the first line of offensive and defense so it is not surprising they fetch big bucks. Madubuike’s lucrative contract still puts him second on the list of highest-paid DT in the league. The honor of being the highest-paid tackle goes to none other than the future Hall of Famer and Rams defensive star Aaron Donald.

The Super Bowl winner earns $31.66 million annually thanks to a 3-year $95 million contract he signed with the Rams in 2022. The Third place is occupied by the Jets’ Quinnen Williams who signed a 4 year, $96M extension with the Green Gang in 2023. Tennessee Titans pay their DT Jeffery Simmons $23.5 million which makes him the 4th highest-earning tackle in the league.

The Commanders had one of the worst defenses in the league in the season despite giving their star defender Daron Payne a 4-year $90,000,000 contract before the start of the 2023 season. Payne will earn on average $22,500,000 for the next three seasons as per Spotrac.

Jones, who co-captains the Chiefs made AFC Pro Bowl and was 1st Team All-Pro for a second consecutive year. He will be hoping to get a contract that shows how much the team values him being one of the most important pieces in Spangnuolo’s system. If Kansas City agrees to negotiate a contract with a 3-time Super Bowl winner, he will likely become the 2nd highest Defensive Tackle before the start of next season.

About the author

Ayush Juneja

Ayush Juneja is an NFL sports journalist at The SportsRush. With over a year of covering the sport, he has penned more than 1300 articles so far. As a sports enthusiast and true adrenaline junkie, he finds the physical side of American Football to be especially thrilling and engaging. A big San Francisco 49ers fan but when it comes to playmakers, he prefers Josh Allen over Brock Purdy. However, he would gladly place Christian McCaffrey in second, someone he supported throughout the 2023 season and who ended up winning the OPOY.

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