Chris Jones has a bone to pick with Mike Tannenbaum.
On the heels of the former Jets general manager suggesting the Chiefs should move on from star tight end Travis Kelce — who has not yet made a decision about playing a 14th season — the All-Pro’s teammate issued a two-word response to comments made by Tannenbaum on Wednesday on ESPN.
“Shut up …..,”Jones wrote in a quote tweet of Tannenbaum’s comments Wednesday night on X, along with a shushing face emoji.
Kelce, who will turn 37 in October, is anticipated to make a decision about his NFL future before free agency begins in March.
The Chiefs, coming off a disappointing 6-11 season that saw the team lose quarterback Patrck Mahomes to a torn ACL, believe Kelce still has plenty left in the tank, with team owner Clark Hunt expressing in January they “certainly hope that he’ll be back.”
Kelce, currently in the midst of wedding planning with Taylor Swift, posted 851 receiving yards on 76 receptions and five touchdowns this year.
Although he technically enters the 2026 offseason as a free agent, the Chiefs appear to be plotting future moves with recent changes to Mahomes’ contract.
It was reported Wednesday that the quarterback’s salary cap number was being lowered from $78.2 million to $34.65 million, which would create $43.56 million in cap space.
Should signing Kelce be on the Chiefs’ offseason to-do list, Tannebaum — who worked in the Jets front office from 2000-12 — believes the team should allocate resources elsewhere.
“I would move on from Travis Kelce,” Tannenbaum said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” “… If I was Kansas City, I would make the right, albeit difficult, decision.”
It will be fascinating to see the direction the Chiefs go from here, as Jones is slated to be a $44.85 million cap hit, now the largest of any player on the team, according to Over the Cap.
Jones, who is entering the 11th season of his career, is coming off a seven-sack season with the Chiefs, where he posted the lowest Pro Football Focus grade of his career (70.6).
While he posted the best pass rushing grade in the league, per PFF, his run defense grade came in at 43.4, among the worst in the league.
Jones’ shot at Tannenbaum comes days after he played recruiter to former teammate Tyreek Hill, who is expected to be released by the Dolphins.
The controversial wideout, whose 2025 campaign was cut short due to injury, won a Super Bowl with Kansas City in 2020 before being sent to Miami.