Chris Jones is taking an incarcerated school worker under his wing.
Vera Liddell, who served as a food service director in Chicago, stole $1.5 million worth of chicken wings and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Jones, the Chiefs star defensive tackle, is offering to pay $1.5 million to free her.
Liddell pled guilty to theft and operating a criminal enterprise, according to CBS. The 68-year-old is currently in Cook County Jail after committing the crimes from 2020 to 2022.
Jones is seemingly throwing Liddell a bone with his offer posted to X, formerly Twitter. Here's why Jones is trying to free the Chicago chicken wing thief.
NEW NFL RULE EXPLAINERS: Kickoffs | Guardian caps | No chain gang
Why is Chris Jones helping chicken wings thief?
Jones posted to X, saying he'd pay for all the wings that Liddell stole from the school district.
I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free https://t.co/0mr1Bl9dWR
— Chris Jones (@StoneColdJones) August 13, 2024
The 30-year-old defensive tackle didn't, however, offer an explanation as to why he made the offer. He just offered to pay money to set her free.
Jones' post quoted a post from another user on X. The original post was fairly vague in the backstory of the case.
"Illinois school worker has been sentenced to 9 years in prison for stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings over the years," the post read. But it's difficult to tell an entire story with one sentence.
Liddell stole $1.5 million worth of chicken wings while working as a food service director in a Chicago school district. The criminal enterprise started during the pandemic and lasted from 2020 until 2022.
MORE: NFL Preseason injury tracker | RB depth charts
While students weren't attending in-person classes, the school still provided meals that parents could pick up. Liddell was in charge of ordering those meals. In addition to the students' meals, she ordered chicken wings for herself.
The operation went under the radar for three years until the business manager of the district's food department noticed it was $300,000 over budget in 2023, just halfway through the school year.
The business manager found the chicken wing invoices, which raised a red flag, as students weren't allowed to eat them due to the bones.
While Liddell paid money from the district for a personal stash of chicken wings, students in the area did not miss out on any meals as a result.
"The district consists of five schools," WGN reported. "Records indicate the district's total enrollment is 1,600 children with more than 80% of student qualifying as 'low income.'"
MORE PRESEASON: Week 1 rookie QB grades | Week 1 overreactions
How many wings is $1.5 million worth?
There isn't an official tally as to how many chicken wings Liddell stole — or how many she ate. But there is one figure that gives an estimate to the large quantity.
Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings between August and November 2021, according to CBS. That's an average of over 3,600 cases per month in that span.
That's just in that four-month time frame, though. The theft from the school district reportedly lasted from 2020 until 2022.
Chris Jones contract
Jones became the highest-paid defensive tackle in NFL history in terms of AAV after signing a five-year, $158.75 million contract with the Chiefs this offseason.
Shedding $1.5 million wouldn't be much of a problem for him. That said, it's extremely unlikely that the U.S. judicial system would accept Jones' money in exchange for Liddell's freedom.